Ann Van Eron’s new book Open Stance: Thriving Amid Differences and Uncertainty convincingly shows us that the best way we are able to improve our relationships and cope with life’s changes and obstacles is to be open-minded, or adopt an open stance.

The book opens with a powerful quote by Jim Collins, which perfectly sums up why this open stance is necessary: “If the first two decades of the twenty-first century have taught us anything, it really is that uncertainty is chronic, instability is permanent, disruption is common, and we can neither predict nor govern events. You will see no new normal. There will only be a continuous group of not normal episodes defying prediction and unforeseen by many people until they happen.” The response a lot of us might feel to the tumultuous change all around us is to run and hide. Ann Van Eron understands that. She describes a vacation she took to Santorini, Greece, which she thinks of as her oasis because there she learned to relax, quit stressing, and be open to what was around her.

Since being on what is openai is not an option for most people, Ann encourages us to get our very own oases or pleasant memories of times when we felt open and relaxed and apply them to situations inside our lives which may be more difficult. When we approach our obstacles with exactly the same openness we approach a vacation or other positive things, we can shift to being more open-minded and finding methods to appreciate even the most difficult situations or arrived at find common ground with people we previously felt were too different for us to see eye-to-eye with.

Needless to say, being open or closed is all a state of mind. Ann teaches us how to be aware of whenever we are closed-to be familiar with our thoughts and how they could be sabotaging us or preventing us from taking an open stance that will bring us greater fulfillment or satisfaction. She reminds us that people each have an interior spin doctor who tells us stories about situations, other folks, and ourselves. We need to be aware of once the spin doctor is operating, twisting perspectives to make us look good and others less so. By paying attention to our thoughts and to other people, we can open a door to possibilities.

As a small business consultant, Ann has worked with numerous organizations to teach their members how to take this open stance. She has witnessed firsthand how companies confronted with diversity challenges experienced employees shift to being open so they could co-create solutions. Now in Open Stance, she shares the tools and processes which have worked for the numerous people she has guided through the procedure. The book is divided into four sections. Part One argues the case for being open, Part Two supplies a process for shifting to being open, Part Three shares practices for embodying an open stance, and Part Four encourages us to do this from an open stance to help make the world a better place, whether in simple ways or larger ones within our local or global community.

Throughout the book, Ann shares not merely her very own experiences helping others to become more open, but she backs up her statements with research, showing, for example, how employees tend to be more engaged if they are open and experiencing wellbeing. The result for companies is greater financial success and positive impact on their customers. By creating a workplace that is more open, people feel psychology safe, and then they are more ready to share ideas, are more creative, and are better together.

While being open might sound easy, it requires learning to listen to other folks to comprehend them. Ann discusses such topics as empathy and how to most probably to and interested in others. She also cautions us not to assume we are able to easily understand another. Can we really know what it’s like to maintain a wheelchair or even to be unable to get a cab because of the skin we have color? However, we can pay attention to others and come to understand why they contain the beliefs and opinions they achieve this we can find common ground.

We also can expand our emotional vocabulary to better listen to ourselves. For instance, instead of use basic descriptions of emotions like happy, sad, or angry, we can expand to pinpoint whether we are frustrated, irritated, afraid, or annoyed. By becoming more aware of our emotions, we are able to develop greater emotional intelligence. We shall also then be better able to notice what emotions others are responding from so we are able to respond better to them.

Some of this might seem like common sense, but it is easy to forget these practices if we have been closed. It is also an easy task to forget what long-lasting ripple effects we can create simply by having “compassionate curiosity” and connecting to each other. Open Stance’s final section is really a true tour-de-force vision of how good the world could be if we simply concentrate on being open, try to be optimistic, and express gratitude.