Red, green or blue milk?
Jan 05th 2022
Whenever I meet a new person and the conversation gets a bit boring, I ask them one simple question, “do you drink red, green or blue milk?”. Now I obviously don’t mean the colour of the milk I mean the cap, do you drink full fat, semi-skimmed or skimmed milk. Now the correct answer for me is green (if the answer is red disconnect yourself from that person forever) and although it sounds like a stupid thing to say, I believe it has a much greater meaning.
The most obvious meaning being that everyone has a personal preference. Everyone has a preference for everything and as a result, the choices we make reflect the person we are and the unique identity we keep for ourselves. People may prefer winter over summer, maths over english or orange juice over apple juice. Does that make them different to you? Well, yes. Having a different identity isn’t a bad thing, it shows how much freedom we have and how we want to, rightly, show it off. These simple questions may be the start of an engaging conversation or just a little giggle, but you never know - it might be exactly what the other person needs. People will always think and react differently to you and I, or maybe some people are confused.
When you ask the milk question they might respond “I’m vegan” or “Sorry I’m lactose intolerant”, if that does happen just change conversation! But apart from those responses others might seriously think about the question, possibly reflecting their attitudes to many things. People may be indecisive on what milk to drink, or going further to say what gender they prefer. But here are two simple words to tackle that issue on your behalf: be patient. This idea of an identity crisis is more apparent in our society than ever before and for people who have their lives sorted out it may be irritating to see and hear that phrase all the time, but be patient. Ignorance and impatience won’t make you a better person, it certainly won’t make you a better leader.
Leadership is something I personally have always succeeded in, but one thing I’ve learnt over the past year or so is I have to be more open minded and considerate of other people’s feelings and opinions. Knowing an individual's preferences will help you build methods to aid everyone, making you and your team more effective. Everybody in your team hates red milk, don’t get red milk (thankfully). People are split between blue and green, then get both. As a leader it can’t be you vs them. Knowing the people ‘implementing your image’ isn’t a bad thing and doesn’t downgrade your status, it can be argued it improves it. But now the question is are you going to ACT on it?
Next time you ask a question, be Aware, understand the situation and if it’s the right thing to ask. Once you get an answer Connect the dots and bring in your own ideas and finally, Take action. You’re the leader, you make the first move. Everyone is a leader in their own way and you all champion something every day if not every hour. So, do you prefer red, green or blue milk? We may agree or we may not, that’s okay. We may have different ideas or meanings on that question, that’s okay. But as long as we act in the right way, we are making a difference. Orrin Woodward once said, ‘leaders always choose the harder right than the easier wrong’. Do you agree with that? Does that make you a bright leader?
Written by McGinlay Parkinson, a year 12 student at Thornleigh.