Calling In by Loretta Ross: Book Positive

Calling Out and Calling In. I figured out the importance of that differentiation and was able to delver deeper into the meaning and difference as I read Loretta Ross’s new book Calling In: How to Start Making Change with Those You’d Rather Cancel.

We don’t agree with everyone we come across. People at work and people in life. Most of them we can get by, forget, don’t bother or even ignore and move on. But some people we end up having a fundamental differences. without us being aware our differences can turn into grudge. a long lasting grudge that ruins us along with others.

In a ‘cancel culture hungry’ society as ours today, it is so easy for us to cancel one another. To join forces with others and cancel people we do not agree with. I have been guilty of doing it in my social media life. And I am extremely ashamed of the times I have done it. Yes, I have also been canceled. It does not feel good. But there is a different way to approach this.

This is why Loretta’s book and the idea of ‘Calling in’ becomes important. While the book primarily takes you through her life as an activist it has insights for professionals too. I know we might see less of that cancel culture in corporate sector, but it exists. May be not like in social media.

Calling in is the process of starting a conversation with people we disagree or cannot stand. It is the process of making people better and in that journey becoming a better human being ourselves.

It is so easy to fall into a groupthink. And it is not easy to break out of it and stand up and work against that groupthink. It needs a lot of courage to call out in some situations, but for calling in, it takes a ‘steady moral compass’ along with courage to hold it up and find our way.

That is tough.

I found the book to be an eye opener, on multiple fronts. One was on my own insecurities that result in my actions. I could find the problems with my moral compass. I had to comes face to face with my deep rooted biases that has deactivated some of my abilities to assess situations properly. I realized there is so much work to be done ‘for me on me’.

The reason I write about these books on LinkedIn (and will continue to even if they are not professional in nature) as it is so important for us to not just get stuck in our professional realm, but explore what is outside of work.

We swim in the same river 8-5, but we have to immerse ourselves in so many other streams outside in order be valuable and truthful to our river and during our daily swims.

Here is the video on the Book Positive Channel