Learn to Listen and Listen to Learn

This quote is from a documentary on the tragic Willberg Mine fire, that occurred in Huntington, Utah in 1984.  This was very impactful to me when I heard.  I distinctly remember hitting the pause button and thinking about it for a minute.  I then replayed it multiple times.

This is a concept that is for everyone no matter your vocation or title.  As I spoke in my article about the concept of Always a Student, Always a Teacher, we all have something to learn and something to teach.  Learning to listen and listening to learn is a critical step on the journey to building trusting relationships at work. 

So, what does learn to listen actually mean.  First it means shut your mouth and open your ears.  When you are talking your ears are closed.  When you listen really focus in on what the person is saying, do not be thinking of what to say next, or how you are going to counter their position or argument.  Really listen to what they are saying.

This leads into the second part which is the listen to learn, adopt and develop this skill and it will help you to sell yourself.  You are getting after someone who is not wearing gloves.  Instead of trying to think of what to say after the excuses they have given you, or just cutting them off and saying that it is company policy, so you need to wear them.  LISTEN to what they are telling you.  Yes excuses suck but they can be very revealing.  Is this person telling you that the gloves don’t fit right, is she telling you that the gloves do not provide her the needed dexterity that is needed to perform the job?  Now address the issue at hand the glove does not fit right.  Does the employee know how to properly don the gloves.  Are they the right size.  I have seen people try on gloves and need three different sizes for the three different styles.  Sometimes a medium is not a medium. Can she use a different type of glove, to perform the work that would give the same protection but provide more dexterity.  Again, people do not, by nature, want to be unsafe.  They want to be safe, but something is keeping them from doing so.  It is only by listening that we learn those reasons and be better situated to help those we work with and to help bridge the gap.