Put the phone down!
I’ve been fortunate to attend several events over the past year. Birthday parties. Concerts. Networking Events. Church Services. Business conferences. Funerals. Dances. At every single one of these events, I witnessed an all too common phenomenon. People filming with smartphones unsolicited.
To be clear, I have no issue with someone choosing to visually document their every waking moment, provided the individual filming is not encroaching on someone else's civil liberties. Do you. However, it did get me thinking about the act of being present in the moment.
Do people ever take the time to think:
Why am I filming this?
Am I going to ever watch this back?
Is this stopping me from fully enjoying the moment?
Is this stopping others from fully enjoying the moment? Not everyone wants to be all over Blue Ivy's internet.
Unless your sole purpose for being at an event is to help capture it, what value do you glean from not being fully in the moment?
Places of worship, concert halls, conference venues, even a shebeen (if you know, you know). These are places we go to draw guidance, motivation, inspiration, and -nvm. Why do we need to distract ourselves from that? If you are watching your favourite music artist perform live, wouldn’t it be that much more enjoyable if you didn’t have to bob and weave through a sea of phones?
One of the things I love about going to the theatre is the no filming/flash photography rule. When I host private dinners, filming and photography are banned (I say discouraged, but people get it).
By now, you are probably thinking, “Alright, Uncle. Get back in your box with your dial-up internet”. But hear me out. This is not a generational divide thing. Being present is a big part of effective leadership.
To effectively lead people and navigate the various internal and external scenarios that await all leaders, we must be present in the moments that matter. Knowing when to sit and listen. Being fully aware of our environment so we know when to take action. Allowing headspace to digest what’s being communicated.
You’ll be surprised how much easier it is to connect with people once you put down your phone. 😏
(Photo by ROBIN WORRALL on Unsplash)
