Carefully and Intently Listening to Other People Whenever They Speak is the Way You Will Really Connect With Them
At the instant of your own conception, God gave you two ears and one mouth. Do you suppose He was trying to tell you something as concerns your future needs to learn how to listen more than how to talk?
Most people today seem to want to be doing most all of the talking or be, at least, the dominant talker of any group in which they are involved.
Being a good listener is far more effective whenever you are in a personal or group discussion.
The human brain is capable of only doing one thing at a time. No person can talk and listen simultaneously, nor can they listen and think at the same time. No person can do two or more things at the same time. Mankind just wasn’t designed to work or function that way.
If you disagree with this last statement, I can only feel sorry for you. You are going to miss out on many different and varied rewards and blessings that would have been yours had you been a better listener.
Failing to listen properly to an individual addressing you is not only rude and bad social manners, but is also very insulting to that person who is speaking. Failure to properly listen to another person when they are speaking directly to you, forces you to look, act, and speak foolishly once they request your answer or your input to what they have been saying.
Stupid, foolish, or inattentive responses to a person who is speaking with you announces to all the world who can see or hear your response,…that you are not very sharp, and not very interested in the other person speaking to you, and definitely not any type or kind of good leader or contributor to furthering your personal relationship with the person or group with whom you are conversing.
If you are desirous of becoming a great leader of other people in any type of personal endeavor, please permit me to share with you a few pieces of information that I believe will benefit you in your leadership attempts.
Good leaders attract and motivate other people by their listening skills.
Learned listening skills include:
1. Avoid prejudicial or negative first impressions.
2. Become less self-centered.
3. Withhold initial criticism.
4. Stay calm.
5. Listen with empathy.
6. Be an active listener.
7. Clarify what you hear.
8. Recognize the healing power of listening.
After doing all of those 8 efforts, you should then act on what you have heard! This required action habit is not to be taken as a suggestion. God specifically commands us to take immediate action on the information we take in from our listening habits. It is recorded in the Book of James, Chapter 1, verse 22, NKJV:
(22) “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
To communicate your active interest in them as a person and in what they are telling you, whenever another person speaks to you…listen to them. Show interest in what they are saying,…be attentive to the content of their message. If you can be of any service to them, by all means serve them or at least offer any of your own suggestions that are applicable to their predicament.
To maintain your intent and listening abilities during a discussion with another person, always look them directly in the eyes. The eyes are the windows to a person’s soul. Locking onto their eyes keeps you mentally focused and concentrating on the words that are flowing our of their mouths.
Whenever you show such intense interest in what a person is saying to you, it is a guarantee that they will return the courtesy.
Remember, great communication always leads to great understanding, and great understanding always produces even greater influence. And, of course, it is common knowledge that Leadership is nothing more or nothing less than great influence.
Be a good listener. Know what you are talking about whenever you speak. Never brag about the things you are doing or have accomplished. Stay humble. Always speak the truth,…in love and respect,…wrapped in gentleness.
Leaders Gotta Lead……………..