Saturday, July 30, 2011

Thought for the day

We tend to say many things during the course of the day but are we actually being listened to or are we listening to what is being said to us? Hearing or listening – the great debate? We can hear things or someone speaking but that doesn’t necessarily mean we are listening.

Listening is more intentional and requires focus. It’s an art that needs to be learnt. Asking questions helps us in the process of listening. It actually helps us process things and assists where we may have missed something or not really understood what the individual is saying. Listening involves understanding and many times it comes by asking.
I’ve heard that “assumption is the lowest level of knowledge.” We assume we know someone or what they are saying. We may even assume we understand them. How wrong we can be sometimes.

Listening is an art. One of the best things we can do for people sometimes is just to LISTEN. Get the “message within the message” by asking questions.

Let’s learn to listen!

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