Listen Here

Going into an all-day meeting, I decided to try something different. For a long time I’d been thinking, “Bill, you talk too much.” My journal entries were replete with, “Talk less. Listen more.”

That morning, I titled my journal entry, “Listen Here” (after the great song by Eddie Harris) and continued with:

Listen Here by Eddie Harris — Atlantic Records  — 1966.

Listen.
Ask questions.
Be curious.
Ask humble questions.
Listen.
Summarize.
Synthesize.
Pass.
“I don’t know.”
“Let me think about that.”
Speak the *kind truth?*
Nah!
Observe.
Listen…
Just listen!

While my change in approach was noticed by more than one person, something even more interesting happened. During the morning session, I received a notification about a new podcast just downloaded to my iPhone. It was an HBR Ideacast entitled, Become a Better Listener and featuring Mark Goulston, author of Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone.

Maybe someone is trying to tell me something? Great start? Message received!

To be continued…