The power of listening
Ben Martin's latest post on the Certified Association Executive blog includes a great point:
"And the conversation isn't all about your blog: If you write a blog but don't read others' blogs, comment on them and link out to them, what you have is antisocial media. My mom taught me that God gave us two ears and one mouth so that we could listen twice as much as we speak. Unfortunately, many seem to believe that God gave them ten fingers and two eyes so that they can type five times as much as they read."
There's a quote on the spine of the February 2008 issue of Associations Now that makes a similar point: "It is rare that your goals will be best served by your talking more" (from Steve Harrison, author of The Manager's Book of Decencies).
Perhaps this week we can all try listening more thoughtfully and more often ... I know it's something I can always stand to work on.
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Comments
Thank you for listening. :-) And thanks the link, Lisa.
It's refreshing to read an organizational blog like Acronym and not immediately think antisocial media.
Posted by: Ben Martin, CAE | February 11, 2008 12:49 PM
Amen. Thank you Ben and Lisa.
Posted by: Virgil Carter | February 12, 2008 10:38 PM
Ben--thank you! One of the things we enjoy most about working on Acronym is the chance to connect with the rest of the association blogging community. I love how it's growing and developing.
Posted by: Lisa Junker | February 13, 2008 7:16 AM
Well said Ben. When we talk, we only repeat what we know. When we listen, really listen, we learn and we connect.
Posted by: Vinay Kumar | February 17, 2008 7:08 AM