I realized recently that I used to do a lot better staying in touch, of keeping the lines of communication open with family members as well as customers, suppliers, and other people whose lives I impact and whose lives impact mine. Sometimes we just get caught up in the day to day and before we […]
I thought I’d do something fun this week instead of a regular written blog and that’s to give you the listening quiz I give in many of my workshops. I didn’t invent the quiz, and can’t find out who did (but I thank the person!) It’s not only fun, but illustrates how ineffective our listening […]
Listening is one of our most important communication skills, but also the one we spend the least amount of time developing. Think about it. Parents spend so much time in a child’s formative years teaching that child how to speak, read, and write. Then the child goes off to school and spends more time learning […]
Last week, I shared the high cost of poor listening. Although most of the time our poor listening isn’t an issue of life or death, we do all pay a price when we don’t make effective listening a priority. If you read articles on the importance of communication, listening is usually listed as one of […]
“Hey, do you have time to talk?” “Do you have a minute, I have an idea I want to run by you?” How many times a day are you asked questions like these? And how many times do you wish you could be honest and say NO, but what comes out of your mouth is […]
The high cost of poor listening isn’t evident when you visit Tenerife Island, the largest and most populous island in the Canary Island chain. More than five million tourists visit the island each year, enjoying its distinctly beautiful beaches, mountains, and many cultural festivals. However, these tourists probably don’t realize that Tenerife holds a more deadly distinction. […]
When my daughter Kelsey was about four years old, we were both sitting and looking at the new fish in our fish tank. Having just added the fish, I was watching them closely to ensure they were adjusting to the water, temperature, and other fish in the tank. While I was doing this, Kelsey was […]
As the new year approaches, if you’re like me, you’ve been thinking about the things you’d like to accomplish in 2017. Many of us make resolutions as the new year begins, but how many of us can honestly say, at the end of that year, that we accomplished all we resolved to do? Based on […]
This week’s blog post is a guest post from Alana Hill. Alana is a passionate speaker, author, and consultant at 2Hill Consulting Services. As a Change Leadership expert, she inspires teams to move past their roadblocks by applying her proven combination of critical thinking and compassionate leadership. Her experience as an engineer and certified Project Management […]
On November 25, I went to check on things, as I do every day, at my local animal control facility where I volunteer. In the stray-hold area I saw “Zuzu.” She was emaciated and eaten up with mange- so she was itchy, smelly, and mostly bald from head to toe. She’d obviously been attacked by […]
