silent listening

Do you realize that the words SILENT and LISTEN are spelled with the exact same letters? I didn't until it was pointed out to me... so what?

Clean the ego out of the ears.

True listening cannot exist without the listener being silent... not only verbally silent, but mentally silent. Not speaking is much easier than turning the mind off momentarily and really paying attention to someone else. Real listening does not include planning what you are going to say next. Easier said than done.

Authentic listening is active and requires effort, empathy, focus and concentration toward another. To truly hear someone, we have to be able to be still and really listen to them. We need to lean into what they are saying and attempt to understand what they are really trying to tell us (not what we want to hear). This takes practice but the rewards are huge.

Are you hearing me?

©2008 Tom Leu