Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen (Winston Churchill)

Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash

Listening is a skill, and like any skill it needs tending to from time to time.

Because, let's face it, listening to someone else's point of view can be tricky at times.

Listening is often hard work. Zoom meetings do NOT help in this regard.

Impatience is a factor. Zoom meetings do NOT help in this regard.

And, patience can be stretched to the limits. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone wants to be heard.

I sometimes struggle with people who love listening to the sound of their own voice.  

What to do in these situations. What to do?

I like Dan Rockwell's advice. His three C's.

Two in particular resonate with me.

Calmness - listening requires a calm spirit (I aim to tell all my restless thoughts to go forth and multiply)

And, compartmentalisation. As he says, "Set a fence around your listening space. You don't have anything else to do except attend to the person speaking."

This last one is much easier to do in person. Zoom is not so easy. 

But I'll work on it.