Earlier this week, I was walking down the frozen food aisle in Costco. You know, the one that comes after the huge bags of chips, fresh fruit and then frozen burgers and … full frozen pigs?
Well, after trying to get ahead of a slow–paced customer and squeezing my cart between their’s and a skid of bananas, I overheard a woman say, in a relatively monotone voice: “If I didn’t hear you, then you didn’t actually say anything.”
Of course, I had to turn around and see who said this and who she was talking to.
Who did she say this to? And … how does this relate to phone skills?
As it turns out, the voice was the slow–poke customer, speaking to her daughter in the cart, who looked to be around 5 years old. Admittedly I thought it was a little strange that a mom would make such a statement to such a young child, but this is what it made me think of:
Here was this mother, giving her young daughter full responsibility of being heard. Wow!
Imagine how much easier it would be to communicate if everyone recognized the truth of this statement.
Imagine if we all practiced speaking with the other person in mind.
Imagine all the people… living life in peace oooo ooooo
Who will you share this advice with?
Children “being seen and not heard” was expected when I was very young – I was never good at it 😉
Yes, I remember this as well! I was a shy kid – made this easy for me
It’s easy to blame others when we don’t feel heard; this is a good reminder that we all have a part to play in productive and effective conversations.
Thanks, Megann. We know you help teams with exactly this type of communication challenge so it is great to get your feedback.