Every morning I pray and meditate. My meditation affirmation is to focus on humility and empathy. I served in a number of leadership roles over the years. As a result, I gained great confidence and pride in being a knowledgeable decision maker. Sometimes power and hubris made me less likely to listen. Ironically listening makes leaders more effective. In addition to providing important information it is emotional. The more difficult the conversation, the more emotional. Emotions muffle the spoken word. It can be difficult to listen in long-term relationships because you might feel you already know what the other person is going to say; so at your own peril, you only half listen. It is most difficult to listen when verbally accosted by a person whose perspective is vastly different from yours. I have experienced that and know it will happen again. Most of the time it is unexpected. That is where my active and empathetic affirmation comes in to play.
I want to be an active and empathetic listener who pauses, listens, paraphrases and uses curiosity to ask clarifying questions rather than respond in a hostile manner. I want to give my full attention, hear the words, listen to the tone and watch body language to lower intensity to give the other person and me the best chance to have a productive conversation. Productive doesn’t always mean agreement; it could simply mean respectfully disagreeing yet understand each others’ perspective better. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if more people could do that?