Are you an active listener?
It has taken me years to learn the difference between listening to understand and listening to respond.
I didn’t think there was one.
Not until I got curious about how I listened to others.
I remember a time when I was on the phone with a close friend of mine.
After a brief overview of our days, she proceeded by telling me a story.
Then, halfway through the conversation she asked, “How would you solve this?”
I froze.
I couldn’t tell a single thing about what she had shared.
I was too focused on creating my own story.
The next New York Times Best Seller.
Prior to that moment, I believed that listening was like playing ping pong 🏓
One person said something.
The other one responded.
It didn’t even have to make sense.
Looking back at it now, I’m surprised by how many conversations I’ve been apart of that follow a similar method.
This onversation with my friend opened my eyes to a completely different world.
It changed the way I converse with others.
It helped me understand the importance of listening for #meaning.
It helped me overcome the temptation of creating my own story while the other person was sharing.
Over the years, I’ve become much better as an #active #listener.
I’ve added more tools to my toolkit to strengthen my active listening skills.
1️⃣ I’ve started to take notes during my conversations. I stopped trusting my ability to remember everything that was said.
2️⃣ I’ve asked relevant questions or made statements that helped clarify what the other person had said.
3️⃣ I’ve intentionally taken the time to pause and reflect before responding. This point has been a tricky one to communicate, as silence is often times perceived as “awkward” or space that needs to be filled immediately. I’ve had to communicate to the other person what and why I was doing it.
How do you listen to others?
What type of information do you listen for?
