Sunday, May 04, 2008
Listening - a skill we take for granted but never good at.
I didn't know the chinese character for "listen" until I saw its wisdom within the 7 Habits program. If we think back at all the training and education we have done, it is likely that we attended more training on how to speak, present ourselves, articulate clearly and not much in the area of how to listen really well.
The essence of the chinese character emphasizes that our Ears are KING when we are listening. And we have to listen with 10 Eyes...seeing and sensing much more than we can with 2 eyes. And that we should only have 1 single focus at Heart -- ie: to listen and fully understand the other person from THEIR perspectives.
Tough to do if we just take listening for granted. And yet, the root of many problems today is our own inadequacy in listening for understanding. We think we are already good at it, but we can be better. Habit #5 - Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood.
The essence of the chinese character emphasizes that our Ears are KING when we are listening. And we have to listen with 10 Eyes...seeing and sensing much more than we can with 2 eyes. And that we should only have 1 single focus at Heart -- ie: to listen and fully understand the other person from THEIR perspectives.
Tough to do if we just take listening for granted. And yet, the root of many problems today is our own inadequacy in listening for understanding. We think we are already good at it, but we can be better. Habit #5 - Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood.
# posted by KC Yuen : 8:40 PM
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