Communication Without Listening Falls Short

It’s easy to forget that listening is precisely what makes communication possible, writes Eric Fletcher in This Is Where Communication Begins. Because we want most of all to be heard, to deliver our message. That’s not communicating, though. That’s delivering a message, and then mistaking the delivery itself for communication. But it's listening that leads to connections and understanding:

“It is a counter-intuitive discipline that works exactly opposite of our practice. As opposed to being worried about what we should say, listening actually informs and gives shape to messaging that connects.”

Read the post. Stop talking. Start listening. And then you can begin to truly communicate.

Active Listening Is More Than Just Paying Attention...

With an ever-increasing number of communications channels – like email and voice mail and texts for starters – the importance of listening has never been more, well, important, writes Kevin McMurdo in From Sponge to Trampoline: Putting the “Active” in Active Listening. Because in spite of the technology, success in the legal profession continues to be built on personal relationships, which in turn are able to flourish when lawyers demonstrate active listening habits:

“Active listening, we agreed, meant (1) paying attention to the visual aspects of listening such as body language, facial expression and tone of voice, (2) listening with intent and (3) repeating what we heard for clarity and understanding.”

But there’s more to it than that, of course. Read the post for an overview of what McMurdo – and the heads of a leadership development consultancy who analyzed the listening behaviors and characteristics of more than 3,400 people – think are the essential traits of a an active listener. Then start doing it.

Social Media Is For Listening, Too

Law firms have a lot to gain from social media, writes James Mulvey in The 5 Ways Law Firms Are Using Social Media for Listening, because they are "innately social organizations," built on social interactions. But better relationships aren't the only benefit of online activity;

[B]road social media listening, using software to analyze millions of bits of data to find the conversations impacting their clients, cases, and firm’s reputation ... offers your firm immediate returns, even if these results fall outside of your typical marketing uses of social media.

Read the post. Start listening - and learning - on social media.

(Hat-tip to Nancy Myrland, one of Mulvey's sources, for alerting me to the post.)