Making the most at your workplace with Diana Keith
Other People’s Wisdom
“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.”
-Epictetus
Have you ever attended a class on listening skills? If yes, you are lucky to have had such training and I am guessing you're quite successful if you've kept your skills sharp.
I've never had such a course; I learned the hard way.
Listening Lessons Learned
* I sat in the hall for two weeks in seventh grade because I did not listen when our Principal, Sister Martina, reviewed the school conduct rules at the beginning of term. Even though I was new in school, everyone learned who I was very quickly. Believe me, Hallway Girl is a pet name you do not want in Junior High.
* In tenth grade, I was permanently removed from my typing class, because I did not listen when the instructor mentioned there were to be no beverages near the equipment. Naturally, my typewriter was floating in Coca-cola while everyone else was learning 50 WPM. Alas, I still type with two fingers today.
* At 21, my sale's staff rallied together and complained to my superiors about my steamrolling leadership approach. Ouch...
Truth be told, I probably still didn't get it until I became part of a learning organization and was lucky enough to find a great mentor who had learned how to develop amazing listening skills.
What's a learning organization?
Learning organizations create high performance work cultures and invest in their people in order to create extraordinary results through their people.
People thrive and perform at a high level when engaged to this end.
- A high performance work culture systematically sets the stage for productive communication, innovative solutions, great performance, and many other valuable business results.
Other People’s Wisdom
Poor listening skills can cause all kinds of unnecessary pain in the way of ineffective communication.
- Consider the message you send when interrupting or talking over someone.
- Second guessing or cutting people off sours motivation and can take a business to a fast track of low morale, missed opportunities, or contribute to the turnover of talented people.
- Those who do not use sharp listening skills usually miss out on the many benefits that come along with this very valuable business tool.
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