Matering A Skill

I feel that the skill everyone should master is effective listening. Not just hearing someone speaks, but to actually sit and listen when people talk. I feel that there is a difference between listening and just hearing. If you hear what someone is saying it does not mean that you actually listened to what they really said. When you listen to someone, you take their story or what they are saying and you analyze what they are talking about. Hearing someone is the opposite; after the person has spoken you really do not remember what they were talking about. In my opinion every person in every job can use this skill. When you effectively listen, you can take the time to solve a problem someone has, or make the correct judgment call, or even just understand what a person is trying to tell you. Effective listening can help when someone comes to you with a problem or a difficult situation. This is how counselors or psychiatrist help the people that come to them for help. Effective listening can and should be used all day at work and in most cases in ones personal life. Effective listening is also useful to help refine ideas given to you by co-workers or friends. If you take the time to listen, you may be able to take that idea or problem and help to find a resolution. Most people in the corporate world need this tool so that they can take the time to listen to their client’s needs as well as their peers concerns and ideas. If a client has a concern or problem with a service, what they would like is for someone to listen to their concerns and have someone talk to them about what they just talked about and not receive a generic answer that may have nothing to do with what their concerns are. Just think of a salesman or a sales clerk at a store, in you came to them with a need and expressed your concerns to them, and all they did was brush you off, then it would not make you happy because they did not help you solve your problem and in turn it does not help them to advance in their own careers. Effective listening can also save someone from getting hurt on the job or at home. Just think of someone working in construction and a supervisor advises them not to climb to a certain level without a harness for example, if they do not heed the warning of the supervisor or if the supervisor did not listen to his boss, a worker could get hurt or worse. Or take someone that is in law enforcement or in the armed forces. Could you imagine if someone in this field