Party time!

Well, not really. The boss is out of the office until next Tuesday - so most people would think 'party time' - but for me, it's another busy work day. I have twenty binders to put together for a meeting that isn't scheduled until the 30th, but I plan to work from home until 11AM on Thursday and then I will be on "vacation" until Monday. My boss's son is getting married this weekend and we are going to it. The rehearsal is Thursday at 5PM so we need to be there. I told my boss they can't start without me..... either day! Yeah, I get to officiate the wedding. I told her that I feel I'm her personal minister. I did her oldest son's wedding about 7-8 years ago. I did her daughter's wedding last March. And now I have her youngest son's wedding this week. Not everyone has this honor for officiating all three weddings in one family. I will miss my boss being here at work, but I have a lot to get done before I'm off - and I need her office to spread out the binders in - it's a win-win.

This morning the article I typed out for the report groups I send to was really interesting. In retrospect I know that I have done it, and I'm sure you have too. It's about listening. Yeah, of course you have listened, right?

But how many times are we listening, but only for the break to grab a breath so that we can input our own thoughts? See how different that is? We can be told something really good - and really very interesting - and our minds pick up one word and we "patiently" wait while the other person gets it 'out' and then we add our comment. And in the process we may have missed some vital information, some good stuff, just because we are in a hurry to talk.

I see it happen all the time in meetings. The manager I have mentioned frequently that drives me crazy because she doesn't know how to be a manager - does it all the time. She will talk OVER the person talking - and she keeps going on and on and on.... I'm not the only one who notices it, but I sure wish someone would pull her aside and tell her to stop it!

Edgar Watson Howe once joked, “No man would listen to you talk if he didn’t know it was his turn next.” When Lyndon B. Johnson was a junior senator from Texas, he kept a sign on his office wall that read, “You ain’t learnin’ nothin’ when you’re doin’ all the talkin’.”

Listening shows respect. Psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers said, “Listening, not imitation, may be the sincerest form of flattery.” Whenever you don’t pay attention to what others have to say, you send them the message that you don’t value them. But when you listen to others, you communicate that you respect them. Even more, you show them that you care. German-born philosopher-theologian Paul Tillich commented, “The first duty of love is to listen.”

A mistake that people often make in communicating is trying very hard to impress the other person. They try to make themselves appear smart, witty, or entertaining. But if you want to relate well to others, you have to be willing to focus on what they have to offer. Be impressed and interested, not impressive and interesting. Poet-philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson acknowledged, “Every man I meet is in some way my superior, and I can learn of him.” Remember that and listen, and the lines of communication will really open up.

Hmmmm.... are you listening?

Have a great Tuesday!

Blessings!