Listening by Health Club and Leisure Guru, Trevor Brennan

Jan. 12, 2013 - PRLog -- Two weeks ago, I received a compelling Facebook message from Mark in Auckland, New Zealand, who had received feedback that he often interrupts his colleagues during regular discussion. He was not aware of this, and seemed deeply troubled. Perhaps reassuringly (for Mark), is that this is not an abnormal behavioural trait, and a great majority of us suffer too.

The late, great Stephen Covey once said: "Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply."

This forced me into a heated internal debate about the effectiveness of my own listening skills. Had I really learnt how to listen? Was I so intent on getting my own point across, that I often missed the opportunity to connect on a deeper level? Did my 'lack of listening' discourage my peers to speak more candidly to me next time?

With these troubling thoughts rippling through my mind, I made a conscious decision to spend seven daysreally listening. Research complete, I started my challenge with an armory of listening skills to experiment with.

Did they all work? No. In fact, I spent far too long chastising myself for not following the latest method beaming from the screen of my iPad. After a few hours, I quickly realised that if I was become a better listener, I was to concentrate on what I believed to be the most logical:

I counted slowly to ten after my interlocutor had finished talking. Although this often caused a few raised eyebrows (he's really gone crazy this time!), it certainly did provide enough time to assimilate what was being said, and therefore immerse myself fully into the conversation.

The result of which is that I understand a few people better than I did previously, provided effective solutions when required, and feel better equipped to respond to potential challenges in the coming weeks.

Importantly, I watched (and listened to) deliberate and thoughtful interactions between my network as the week progressed. Did my attempt at active listening therefore become infectious? One can only hope...