😠 They might seem distracted or just barely listening for pauses so they can speak. It’s often very obvious.
😠 Think of how you feed when this happens, unimportant and like you are bothering that person.
💡 We can’t control how someone else behaves, but we can control how we behave in similar situations, when we are in the role of listener.
There’s a lot of good advice in this week’s Matrix Technologies, Inc. Fundamental #16 – LISTEN GENEROUSLY, but I want to focus on three main points:
1 – Give others your undivided attention when they speak.
– Make eye contact
– Stop talking, and listen
– Mirror back what the person is saying to confirm you understand
2 – Suspend your judgment:
– Put yourself into a beginners mindset
– Seek first to understand, then to be understood
– Ask good open-ended questions to clarify
– This will create a “safe” space for more open communications
3 – Listen to understand:
– Practice active listening by giving them feedback through nods of acknowledgement, encouragement to continue, and by repeating back phrases in your own words to confirm that you understand
– These will take practice and may feel strange at first, but keep trying
– Practice these on a spouse, significant other, or your kids
So to bring it on home, remember to listen generously:
1) Give others your undivided attention,
2) Suspend your judgement, and
3) Listen to understand.
