Connectivity

The #1 principle of connectivity that Gary Johnson discussed in the recent seminar is “We Must First Understand Before We Try to Be Understood.”  This principle certainly rang true with me and my staff.  How many times have you been having a conversation with someone only to find your mind wandering while he or she is speaking? When he or she finishes talking, you then find yourself thinking, “What did he just say?”  If we are honest with ourselves, we all have had this happen.  Listening is a challenging skill.  It requires considerable effort and focus.  Gary asked each office this question, “What things do great listeners do?”  Some of the ideas we came up with were:  to establish eye contact, to let the other person know you are listening by a nod, to repeat back what they said, and to let them know you care.  Two key points that really hit home with me are “Listen to Understand Not to Respond” and “It is more important to be interested than interesting.” What a challenging seminar!  In my next blog I will talk about Principle #2: “Remember, Hurting People Hurt People.”