The Power of Listening

I recently read a book titled: Growing Great Employees by Erika Andersen. It is actually the first -english text- book I read from cover to cover aside from some text books I read during my study. Sad? yes... reading has never been a hobby of mine, I prefer watching, listening, or discussing.

One of the things I learned from the book is the listening skills. It seems like a simple skill. I believe almost everybody can do it, but none willing to... just like the CHORUS in the song lyric by Acappella group:

CHORUS:
Everybody said that anybody could do
The important things somebody should do
Everybody knows that anybody could do
All the good things that nobody did

Why listening is important?
- It helps us to collect more information, including some information related with their feeling and emotional status. More information helps us to consider more alternative answers or solutions.
- It gives us more time to think about our responses. A timely and precise response will save you lots of time and energy in dealing with problems.
- It calms us down from our emotional feeling and those we listen to. With a "cool head", we then can make some positive and progressive discussions.
- Listening itself can be the solution. Some people don't need an answer, they just need ears to listen their complains.

Some notes about listening:
- Eye contact: keep your eye contact with the one you listen to. It shows them that you are focusing your whole attention to them.
- Ask curiosity-based questions: it can also called "active listening". Listening is not a passive task where we just sit and listen, but we need to be active in asking questions, which can encourage the speaker to speak even more. E.g.: "and then?", "really?", "why is that?", etc.
- Restating: Once you got an important point from the speaker, it is good to restate it, so that you can guarantee that both of you have the same perspective regarding the matter.

Happy Listening Practices!