Over the last couple of weeks I have encountered many opportunities to practice my listening skills. Until recently I have always thought I was a good listener. The texts that are being used in class as well as the activities have made me realize that listening was not one of my strongest qualities. I realized that I was not always present in the conversations.
Last week we had our Administrative Work Session (we ended school on May 17) and I focused on listening. I did not take my phone, I-Pad, or computer with me. I figured by doing this I would be forced to be a better listener and by the end of the day I was! I could better recall the conversations and made connections on subject matters with other leaders that I have typically disagreed with in the past. I thought that possibly my thought process was not always different than the other leaders but that I was not actively listening.
While it might be true that you aren’t listening as closely as you would like, it might also be that your cognitive processing requires other supports for listening. For instnace, I listen better when I take notes. The process of note taking focuses me and keep my mind from “wandering”.