#davesdailychallenge (120): The Influencer Series – Mike Rowe. You might remember that when I first introduced the Influencer Series I made it a point to mention that I was going to discuss one thing that I take away from the person in question. I specifically said that because of days like today. Any person can teach us something for better or worse and, often, they can teach us many things. I think everyone should learn about Mike Rowe and his history because it illuminates one example of a great deal of what we’ve been discussing for the last 119 challenges. Instead of traveling down the rabbit hole with you to discuss everything that he stands for let me just say elucidate one thing:

Mike Rowe knows how to work with people. 

If I had to choose one thing that I would want to improve in our society, and especially in the political arena, I would choose improving people’s ability to work with those that they might disagree with. If you only work with those that share your opinions or ideologies you’re going to sit still…a lot! Among many things, I take away from Mike the need to humanize the person across from you and to always remember that for the most part, people are more often similar than they are different. If you take the approach of empathy and listening before pissing someone off in order to make yourself feel better in the moment you will be a more successful person in the long run.

Lastly, check out his new podcast “The Way I Heard It”. Each episode is only a few minutes long and they are some of the most entertaining few minutes you’ll spend each week. Thank you Mike.