It is always exciting and somewhat stressful starting a new semester. The Longwood Cohort has a new professor who has joined us this semester, Dr. Roberts. In discussing leadership presence it has allowed me to be more present when someone is talking to me. I always stop what I’m doing when someone is talking to me face to face because I was taught that this is just simply being courteous. However, when I am on the phone with someone I usually multitask because I think they won’t know. I need to be more attentive while having phone conversations because many times I am not present, and it shows. I have had friends tell me that they know I’m not really focused because they can hear it in my voice. Therefore, this will be an area that I will be more mindful of when I am talking to parents or anyone on the phone.
I’m the same way. Until recently, I was almost always present in any conversation I had. As a result, I had a pretty good memory of what we talked about and the underlying meaning which I learned by looking at facial and body communication and tone. Lately, though, I’ve been wandering and telephones and have a computer on while I’m listening has contributed to that.