A wise old owl sat on an oak
the more he saw, the less he spoke
the less he spoke, the more he heard
why am I not like that wise old bird?

I read that somewhere and couldn’t agree with its theme more…listening = wisdom.

Listening is a difficult art. Even those of us who are seemingly ‘silent’ are spending our time forming thoughts of what to say next; our responses based on pre-formed opinions of the situation.

I challenge all of us managers to take the steps to break this habit with our staff. But be warned, it’s a hard habit to truly break.