Ever have one of those conversations where you regret not listening more?
That happened to me this week.
I was on a call with a colleague and I asked how she was.
“I’m feeling quite overwhelmed today”, she said with a sigh.
“Oh, tell me about it”, I jumped in. “Me too.”
The conversation moved on to other topics.
We hung up.
I heard this voice in my head, “Me too is a roadblock.”
O.M.G. I then spent the rest of the day belting myself up for not doing the one thing I am supposed to be good at and that I teach and that is, active listen.
Without thinking I used a roadblock.
A roadblock stops the flow of conversation.
It doesn’t help anyone.
It doesn’t help the relationship either.
According to Gordon International Training, there are 12 different types of roadblocks.
“Me too” could be classed as “Reassuring or Sympathising” which is one of the 12.
It’s important to understand that sympathising, praising, agreeing, changing topics etc. whilst we mean well, are not helpful when people are experiencing challenges and what they need is someone to listen to them.
One of the best things I learned when I did my Lifeline Telephone Counselling training was that the person with the problem is the best person to solve it because they know all the reasons why your solution won’t work.
Please use today’s thought as a reminder to listen more; to be present and give your attention to others.
Saying “Me too” is a roadblock.
P.S. Our next Loyal Lieutenant Masterclass Series starts on Thursday 1st June. Reply to this email if you’d like more information or to register your interest. It’s conducted online for 90 mins each week and is practical and experiential. At the end of the 9 weeks you’ll have created a workflow for your business, a special type of job description to make it easy to supervise and drafted well written procedures. If you, your section or business needs streamlining and improving efficiency and productivity, this is the course for you.
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