Posts Tagged ‘listen’

Have you ever said or heard the words: “You’re not listening to me!”

This is probably one of the most common complaints in today’s rushed world. We are forced to multitask, to do ten things at once and to do them NOW!

Everybody wants a piece of us – which is exactly what happens, we only give them a piece (and sometimes even a piece of our minds!). Most of the time we don’t pay full attention, and this while one of the biggest human needs are to feel valued, heard and appreciated. So why is this important? If we give others our full attention and really listen to them, we demonstrate that they matter to us.

So how does listening to people increase my performance?

1) By listening properly, you eliminate confusion, conflicts and future misunderstandings and mistakes. And

2) Secondly you build trust in the relationship, which in turn means that the other party is more motivate to work harder for and with you!

If you value someone and they are important to you, make an effort to really listen to them, because the flip-side of the coin is that no matter how much you say that you value them, if they sense that you are not listening to them, they are not going to believe you. They will feel unappreciated, and productivity and performance goes straight down the drain!
Listening to someone doesn’t mean just keeping quiet. Although that is a good start! Really listening is to communicate to someone that they really matter to you:

1. Stop whatever else you are doing.
2. Look them in the eyes.
3. Reflect back what you heard to check whether you grasped what they were saying and most importantly,
4. Understand the spoken word in their emotional context! What they say and what they really mean might be different!

I challenge you to test this over the next 3 days! Focus on really listening and see the difference it will make to your relationships. Observe how your performance and productivity increase as a direct result!

Please leave your comments and feedback on your experience at …..!