Are You Listening.​..?

3 for the price of 1 this week…

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”
– Stepehen R. Covey

Someone once said to me that when it comes to communication there are 3 key variables:

1. What I actually say
2. What you hear
3. What I actually mean

And if you’ve ever had the experience of asking someone to do ‘x’ a certain way only for them to do it a completely different way… you know exactly what I mean! I sometimes think that ‘listening’ is the final frontier to communication. It is perhaps the ultimate communication skill.

“There’s a lot of difference between listening and hearing.”
– G.K. Chesterton

Are you listening? Or are you sitting there with a listening face only, when really you’re only hearing words, waiting for a chance to make your point/story/defence?

“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.”
– Ernest Hemingway

Someone mentioned to me recently that there were so many issues in their business that they realised they were missing something – so they’ve set up ‘Listening Forums’ with frontline staff to really try and find out what’s going on. In these Forums, there’s no debate…only questions. So people don’t go on the defensive.
Food for thought.  And of course there is listening to yourself….but that’s another day’s work.