Today we had a guest speaker from Minneapolis School of business. Although I found his presentation interesting and relevant, there were two things he said that stood out to me more than anything else, and both of those things had to do with effective listening.
The first thing he said was that to be an effective listener, you need to hear someone out no matter how much they may go against your personal beliefs. Like he said, I, too, can be a big stubborn and committed to my beliefs, morals, and values. I am guilty of sometimes putting up that wall he gestured with and blocking the words of someone else. I am especially guilty of this with my dad. My dad, due to where and when he grew up, is a bit racist and homophobic. He has come a long ways, but he has a hard time hearing me out when I try to "educate" him on how differences aren't necessarily a bad thing. When he rebuttals, I sometimes tune him out by putting that wall up. After hearing Jody's response to these situations, next time I am going to try harder to stay focused and hear my dad out. I will look interested and may even thank him for a different perspective. It won't be easy, but I think it will ensure that our afternoon ends on better terms than it has in the past when our differences come up in conversation.
