I’ve been mostly offline from social media lately. At home, finishing my new book. At work, immersed in project management and leadership training. On weekends, attending a new synagogue and meeting different people.

Stepping back into social media to check out what’s going on.

A key insight: Regardless of whether they are arguably correct about the issues we face, right-wing politicians turn many people off; make them feel bullied, small, overwhelmed, steamrolled.

This is because they dictate rather than listen.

In contrast, left-wing politicians make people feel heard, valued, understood, and collaborated with.

President Ronald Reagan exemplified the conservative leader with heart. So did Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.

Even when holding unyielding conservative principles, Reagan maintained a genuine rapport with political opponents—most notably House Speaker Tip O’Neill.

Instead of treating negotiations as a zero-sum game to crush the other side, Reagan would battle fiercely on policy all day, but regularly sat down with O’Neill in the evening to break bread, joke, and listen to where common ground could actually be forged to keep the government running.

Golda Meir demonstrated deep, substantive listening through her reliance on cabinet collaboration and collective decision-making, despite her fierce, iron-willed public persona.

During high-stakes military and political crises, she was known for gathering her military advisors and ministers around a table, listening closely to conflicting tactical perspectives, and internalizing grassroots concerns before making her final, unyielding stands for the nation’s survival.

Like them, we have to learn to listen genuinely — not perform listening, but actually include others, reach across the table, and mean it.

Even when it feels inauthentic, that ability to connect matters. It’s a skill worth learning from.

AI image.