Another excerpt from my latest book, Simple Realities (The pathway to happiness and success), which is now available at Amazon.com and on Kindle.
Early in my career I developed the bad habit of continuing to work on whatever I was doing when someone stopped at my desk to talk to me. I did hear everything they said, and thought I was being very efficient, multi-tasking before I even knew the term. But it all ended one day when a young co-worker was telling me about a problem she was having that she thought I might be able to help her with. I continued doing whatever I was doing while she talked. Suddenly she shouted, “You’re not listening!” I assured her I was. “But,” she said, “you’re eyes aren’t.”
Good listening needs undivided attention.
Don’t listen to determine what you’re going to say; listen to understand what the other person is saying.
Most people wouldn’t listen at all if they didn’t think it was their turn next.
When you hear generalities, you have to ask specific questions to find out what’s really being said.
It’s more important to be able to listen well in one language than it is to be able to talk in ten.
Listening is all you need to do to entertain most people.
Good listeners aren’t just popular; they learn things.
While talking we can only repeat what we know; while listening we learn what others know.
Thoughts are worth more than money; if you and I exchange five dollars, we still only have five dollars each. But when we exchange ideas, each of us has one more idea.
Nothing makes people better listeners than hearing their names.
By listening carefully we may learn more than we hear.
Sometimes it takes courage to speak up; other times it takes courage to just listen.
Applause is the only interruption that’s ever appreciated.
Good listeners tend to be good people.
Sometimes we don’t hear what we weren’t listening for.
We sometimes have to listen a long time to find out what a person is saying; most people don’t make a long story short until it’s way too late.
In addition to listening to what people say, we have to look for clues about how they feel, such as body language, facial expression and tone of voice.
The other side of listening-too-little is talking too much.
If we listened better, history wouldn’t have to repeat itself.