Listening is such a simple act. It requires us to be present, and that takes practice, but we don't have to do anything else. We don't have to advise, or coach, or sound wise. We just have to be willing to sit there and listen.
In our daily life, we encounter people who are angry, deceitful, intent only on satisfying their own needs. There is so much anger, distrust, greed, and pettiness that we are losing our capacity to work well together.
Whatever life we have experienced, if we can tell our story to someone who listens, we find it easier to deal with our circumstances.
In virtually every organization, regardless of mission and function, people are frustrated by problems that seem unsolvable.
Listening moves us closer, it helps us become more whole, more healthy, more holy. Not listening creates fragmentation, and fragmentation is the root of all suffering.
Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.
We do as much harm holding onto programs and people past their natural life span as we do when we employ massive organizational air strikes. However, destroying comes at the end of life's cycle, not as a first response.
