Stephen Covey says 'Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply'. And he's right - when we're all wrapped up in how we're going to reply to somebody, be it a child; an employee; a patient; a loved one or a disgruntled customer; our listening skills go out the window. So what are the four steps to listening well?
I'm just back from stunning Salthill on Galway Bay where I was at the Conference of the Psychological Society of Ireland's Division of Behaviour Analysis. It's the annual meet up for those who want to geek out, discuss the finer points of 'reinforcement schedules', and get excited over graphs and pie charts. I suppose it’s not everyone’s idea of a good weekend, but it certainly was mine.
