Nov 30, 2007 | blog, leadership
I’ll tell you one of the most important & introspective lessons I’m learning: it’s listening to what people say. It’s a critical one that many of us find ourselves in the middle of when working on our personal improvement strategies.
While I’ve only really become aware of my own efforts to improve my listening abilities, I figured out that I’ve been subconsciously working on this for some time. Don’t know exactly what triggered it to come to the surface, but it did – and makes a great deal of sense.
What’s also interesting to me is the effort involved in learning this skill. It’s so at odds with how we’ve I’ve processed information when listening to others in the past. To actually absorb the real meaning, the underlying urgency, the true understanding is what I’m after. Whether it be a friend, coworker, or spouse it is crucial that we really understand what is being communicated.
It may be one of the most difficult things a person can undertake to improve their "soft" skills. It also will go a long way to help you reach your goals. Just like many other aspects of personal improvement, this skill is also critical to you if you’re working on your personal brand.
The ability to listen is a trait that people remember. This is an important piece of your reputation and is part of what makes up your brand. You want people to remember things about you, and having people remember that you listen to their requirements, listen to what’s important to them, listen to their concerns is a big one.
How else can we provide value to others when only a portion of what they’re talking about is listened to?
I mentioned at the beginning that this is a skill that I’m "learning" – I’ll never learn it all. I’m constantly finding out how to listen better, and I’d like to know your tips. What more is there to this – I’d love to hear from you. Do you have tips, stories, or examples of how to improve one’s ability to listen? I’m all ears. 😀
Jul 19, 2007 | blog
There is a growing group of professionals over on Facebook. Its a group called Grasshoppers, created by Chris Brogan (Facebook link), and is really a concerted effort in friendsourcing.
The concept is simple, everyone in the group is good at something, has a special skill or resource, and everyone may need something from time to time. As a resource to solve a problem, this is a group where you can ask for help with something and get a response.
Whether it’s just to answer a simple question or to help in a job search – Grasshoppers are there. If you’re interested in helping a friend, or need something, check out the growing Grasshoppers group in Facebook.
Technorati tags: Friendsourcing, Grasshoppers, Chris Brogan, Facebook
Dec 19, 2006 | blog
I’m starting to finally (after several decades) getting past the idea that I need to figure it all out. Every time I try to do something new, I immediately start “diving deep” trying to solve the first puzzle, problem, or question before moving on.
One of the biggest things I’m learning in project management is that I don’t need to do it all. Moreover, that I can’t do it all or shouldn’t even try. In fact I don’t even need to come up with the idea, just be able to implement it – whatever “it” is.
Its a really difficult concept for me – mainly because I’ve been a great problem solver for most of my career. To get my head around this one concept has (surprisingly for some) taken me an enormous amount of thought.
The reason this was important enough for me to blog about is that it is a key pillar to me taking my career to the next level. The hard day-to-day part will be remembering this fact as I do different things that are outside my comfort level and stretch my skills in new ways
So I’m going to be looking for ways to apply this new found idea, mostly how to apply it to my personal benefit. That has always been a stumbling block for me moving forward. I think that will finally be one less thing in my way.
