Easy and Powerful Steps to Improve Your Listening Skills
Many people believe they are listening when actually they are not. Basic listening skills only require a commitment, care and a wee bit of practice.
Many people believe they are listening when actually they are not. Basic listening skills only require a commitment, care and a wee bit of practice.
How do we begin to listen with empathy, not with apathetic uncaring demeanor nor with smothering, “poor you, pity you” messages? First, we can begin with Stephen Covey’s most quoted phrase of “seek first to understand the other.” It is the seeking that is key to offering our attention and presence.
I add; it is about kindness and seeking to understand. My own experience with our daughter Kelly, who spent a great deal of time in jail over an eleven year period, is love draws a circle that takes the other in. One of the best ways to demonstrate that care is to seek to understand with out judgment.
Repair Ideas for Your Broken Relationship It takes courage to reach out and mend a broken relationship. Those with a high level of resiliency demonstrate exceptional courage to do so. As the American author and poet, Maya Angelou wrote: Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice […]
Nancy Loraas, a Calgary-based executive, leadership, and communication coach, sent me a request to fill in a communications questionnaire. As I was filling it in I began to think, “My answers might be helpful to my readers; those interested in effective communication skills.” Consequently, I am sharing Nancy’s questions and my answers. Nancy’s Communication Skills […]
Just as water is home to fish, our conversations are the context or home to our relationships. Sharing and listening are keys to making relationships work. Good communication that creates mutual understanding is even better. Effectively Speak Let us begin with speaking with honesty, kindness, authenticity, and sometimes assertiveness. You have control over the words you choose. […]
Adults better influence when children feel a deep sense of connection, bonding, and caring relationship. It is the adult’s responsibility to build that parent-child relationship. In an ideal world, children would have a close physical, attaching, and bonding experience from birth forward. But sometimes this ideal picture is disrupted due to a range of family […]
Have you ever said or done anything you regret? I am not talking about a fumble mumble or tripping over the front hall rug. Rather, I am referring to disrespecting someone, emotionally wounding another, or crossing over a personal boundary. I’ve done my fair share. For example, I have: Acted disrespectfully. Years ago, I invited […]
In some moments, on some days, someone feels hurt, sad, angry, frustrated, discouraged, worried or anxious. It might be you, your children, your spouse, your friend, your neighbor or a coworker. That’s a probability. Also, true is that caring and kind words can help calm troubled emotional states. When and if you notice someone […]