I have a friend who loves to talk and offer advice and often very unsolicited advice. It poses a problem because often she’s not listening so the advice, as much as it is heartfelt, doesn’t always work because she wasn’t listening to begin with, so the response is off. I have another acquaintance who doesn’t listen at all she just talks and talks AND talks. I can’t get a word in.The art of listening is lost on both of these people. I think they both mean well and are kind but actually listening and having a two-way conversation seems to be missed in most of their communications. I think listening is an art and here a few tips:
Eye contact is necessary – look the person in the eyes
Be aware and attentive – show interest. Nod your head, lean in, show some interest.
Don’t interrupt – wait for a pause before you jump into the conversation.
It might not be your idea, opinion or even a fact but relax and take it in. It’s OK to disagree just do it graciously.
Don’t try to think ahead about your response because you’ll miss half of what they say.
If everyone tried to actively listen to each other I think there would be less communication problems.
Whew – I’ve been swamped streamlining TAG’s social networking efforts as well as recruiting. On top of that, I’ve been out and about going to networking events and to add to my chaos, at home, we just started football season. Football is a huge commitment and I’m trying to figure out how to get through the season. I think my biggest issue the last few weeks is figuring out the logistics for practice each night. It’s all about feeding the dudes healthy food, not fast food – I’ve gone way too organic for that! I might actually start blogging about the football food issue and posting all that recipe madness on another blog.
So, to wrap it all up, I’m up on Twitter now - you can find me at Splitworld. I’m sending out our most current jobs and anything else I think is helpful. The company should be up this week Tweeting any new jobs and/or some of Dave’s short rants.
A huge thank you to Andrew Bermudez at Lee & Associates for his insights into these social networking sites. We’ve always had a great network here at TAG and now it’s getting even better.
