2019-01-01 Seek not to be unders
By Bill Zucker, 2018-08
My weekly leadership blog Guru - Michael Reuter - has been coming up with great tips week after week recently. And, as a person who talks too much and listens too little, this has a lot of relevance to me.
I would add - Seek not to be understood, but to understand - as one of my other favorites in this area.
“When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new” the Dalai Lama tells great leaders. It is that simple message great leaders know and embrace deeply – they don’t know what they don’t know. They recognize that only by opening themselves to new perspectives and ideas does change occur. It is standing in the others’ shoes and seeing the world through their eyes to benefit from the magic and uniqueness of their world view. May we learn from the words of others who speak of the value of listening.
“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” Stephen R. Covey
“One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.” Bryant H. McGill
“The first duty of love is to listen.” Paul Tillich
“Never miss a good chance to shut up.” Will Rogers
“Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you would have rather talked.” Mark Twain
“The worst of all listeners is the man who does nothing but listens.” Charles Dickens
“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” Winston Churchill
“The earth has music for those who listen.” William Shakespeare
Maimonides wrote: “Teach thy tongue to say ‘I do not know,’ and thought shalt progress. ”May you listen always that you may hear the joyous and magical music that the world holds for you.
Is this causing any of you to have reflections of meetings/discussions that you were in on either the sending or receiving side?
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