Choosing Civility When Angry

Jeff Bezos

“We need unifiers and not vilifiers,” (Amazon founder and CEO) Jeff Bezos said. “We need people who argue hard and act hard for what they believe. But they do that always with civility and never ad hominem attacks.

“Unfortunately, we live in a world where this is too often not the case. But we do have role models.”

He’s advocating for elevated communication when we are frustrated or angry. Bezos — right or wrong— is not considered a sympathetic figure due to level of his wealth, some of Amazon’s business practices and how he chooses to spend his money. Not paying enough in taxes is another black mark against his name for many critics.

In this comment of his however, he might be showing leadership about a ‘better way” for society to communicate. Maybe he’s correct in inferring that as a collective or a segment of society we have gone overboard in how we express our discontent, suffering and anger.

We so often make it personal and at times, ugly.

Bezos is suggesting assertiveness instead of aggressiveness, suggesting emotional regulation for self control and to communicate with a higher level of skill and humanity.