Active listening

I’ve received some feedback from my quote I posted last week. Just to jog your memory, it was “Keep your head down, mouth shut, work hard, and good things will happen”. The feedback was revolving around the idea of keeping one’s mouth shut. I thought I’d clarify this. There is a saying that the most powerful man in the room is not the loudest. These might not be the exact words, but I’ll explain. Sometimes the observer has the information to solve issues. Take lawyers for example; their number 1 goal is to persuade through communication. Most apparent communication is heard through tone and speech. These individuals are not shutting their mouths, but they are still succeeding. This is not entirely contradictory to my quote above because of the direction and approach that they are taking as they speak. Lawyers are focused on a certain matter and ask the correct questions to come up with a point. Being an active listener is key to getting all sides of the story, before taking action. Taking the time to understand differing points of views and then asking further questions is active listening. The understanding is the focus that you need to work hard to ultimately make good things happen. You don’t have to keep your head down and mouth shut in a literal sense. Just pick your battles and be focused when you listen/speak. EyeRoll4 the ability to pursue active listening.