Ever since Barack began his bid for the presidency, he has been offering two invaluable gifts: Common Ground and Hope.

Before Barack, politics has always been about focussing on the differences between the liberals and conservatives. Politicians have been attracting voters by exaggerating differences and creating fear about what would happen if the other side were elected. Even now, when politicians from any of the political parties are interviewed on TV, they predictably speak the party line, give contradictory facts and avoid finding common ground. Recently, in Canada, our federal parliament has become hostile and dysfunctional. The adversarial approach has prevented cooperating and synthesizing good ideas, even on pressing issues like global warming and the economy. 

Barack Obama’s view of life has been shaped by humble beginnings and his superior intellect. Early on, he created a career plan in order to achieve his goals. By the time he was a student and head of the Harvard Law Review, he found common interests with students who were conservatives and reformers, both white and black. It was not surprising that the blacks and the reformers had trouble trusting him. It was not normal to be comfortable with the whites and the conservatives. How could they trust that he would not sell out his values for personal gain? But those who produced the Harvard Law Review needed his bipartisan mindset to overcome their animosity and create an ability to work well together. 

In recent years, in domestic and business disputes, some citizens have been successful, learning how to cooperate in order to find solutions, by using mediators. Mediators focus on helping individuals to listen to each other, to understand better and argue less. Several years ago, the Ontario government made it compulsory for divorcing couples to try mediation before considering the adversarial approach of lawyers and courts.

Barack has been elected President of the United States. His speeches have helped build trust and hope for millions of people around the world. Individuals are learning to think more about service to others and about finding solutions to common problems in a cooperative way. 

Barack has opened the possibility that citizens can learn to focus more on cooperating and finding common ground. From my point of view, this means more individuals may chose to learn to listen empathetically. If they do, they will learn to help others express their opinions and learn more from those who have different points of view. As well, they will develop the skills to handle problems and find solutions that are better for everyone involved. When they are speaking, they will be brief and speak with respect to others. Employees will care more for the customers’ point of view. Listening to different points of view will lead to synthesizing ideas and achieving satisfying results. 

Accepting Barack’s invitation: Thinking with the audacity of hope: Imagine a world where more people listen to and cooperate with others. Imagine a world where individuals are more responsible in business and government. Imagine a world where young people feel engaged and where husbands and wives and children bridge the gap of their differences and communicate easily with each other.

With a culture of competition in a world of conflict, how long can we live with hope? With leaders like Gandhi, Mandela, Tutu, Kennedy and Trudeau thousands have been motivated to live with more kindness and cooperation. This time, once again, the more individuals who participate actively in the vision, the more good things we will contribute to each other. 

What effect has Obama had on you?

Leslie