In his excellent book Listening with the Third Ear, the analyst Theodor Reik makes the point that sometimes people who seem to be seeking advice or actually looking for permission to do something they’ve already decided to do. You will know that’s happening when someone who comes to you with advice already has a solution, […]
Communication, Listening
Mark Twain said,” There are two kinds of people in the world: one kind separates people into two kinds of people and the other kind doesn’t.” I’m definitely the kind that separates people into two kinds of people. I think there’s people who listen to respond or reply, and the other kind who listen to […]
effective listening, focused, Listening
In the 2008 movie “Get Smart,” the agent and spy Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, is a bungling but well-meaning spy (who usually gets things done actually), employed by the spy agency “Control.” It’s based on a TV sitcom that started in 1965 and ran for a few years on the television. In the movie, as […]
coneofsilence, Focus, Listening
I don’t know if you’re one of those people who, when you see something in your everyday environment like a product label or bill board or anything, might take that as a personal message and find some meaning in it. I am one of those people. I don’t know what that says about me. And […]
Listening, Messages, observant
When you are in a leadership role, you are frequently in the position of giving other people critical feedback. And in criticism, as in comedy, timing is everything. When you’re giving constructive feedback (including positive feedback, although I’m focusing on constructive criticism below), try to give that feedback as soon as possible. Here’s why: The […]
Coaching, constructive feedback, Feedback, Listening