Real listening

I remember Alan Alda from M.A.S.H. I especially enjoy him on Scientific American Frontiers (when I do get a chance to view it). And now from Michele Miller at WonderBranding I hear that Alan has a book out: Never Have Your Dog Stuffed.

Well, that won't be a problem in the Sherlock household as we do not abide with pets. Getting to the point, Michele quotes Alan in her post:

"The difference between listening and pretending to listen, I discovered, is enormous. One is fluid, the other is rigid. One is alive, the other is stuffed. Eventually, I found a radical way of thinking about listening. Real listening is a willingness to let the other person change you. When I’m willing to let them change me, something happens between us that’s more interesting than a pair of dueling monologues. Like so much of what I learned in the theater, this turned out to be how life works, too."

How are your listening skills?

Are you allowing the other person to change you?



PS: I just added this book to my wish list... I am already behind reading some of the books on my shelves but I will make an effort to get to this one.