Learning is a lifetime opportunity and every day we have the opportunity to learn new lessons. If each day we set the intention to show humility and openness without relying on our title or position while communicating with others, we let ourselves experience life in fuller and brighter ways!
The Contents of Your Heart
It’s what is in our hearts that truly matters, not what is in our bank account, our job title, or what we own. None of that will end up on our tombstone. Instead, how we navigate those experiences and serve others is where we should place value.
If nothing else, we will have let ourselves experience life not just in service to others but with others. Hopefully, in addition to simply experiencing we can additionally learn and progress this database of knowledge with intention. As leaders, we must be open to learning from the people we encounter.
Are You Listening?
My question to you: are you listening? I mean really listening and absorbing to understand rather than just responding and reacting. When we listen with an open heart, we are opening doors to learning valuable life lessons. One thing that prevents us from being able to listen to the people we serve is our ego that can stand in the way of hearing important lessons and opinions. I ask you to be humble, accept that you don’t know the answer to everything, and show up to conversations with an intentional open heart. Listening includes your eyes too! Observe and take note of the world around you. This one question, are you listening? will guide us to be more effective leaders.
By being attentive and eager listeners, we show our appreciation to those we lead. We must recognize that there is learning to be done and act to create cultures of learning in our organizations. Through this process, all of those involved will grow in their learning process towards observing and listening to the life around us.
Accepting The Lessons
Yes, we may learn something from everyone we encounter, from the people we share our homes with to a stranger we meet on the street. However, we often do not allow ourselves to be open to accepting it as something learned.
The people that you lead hold the answers. Just listen. Sounds simple, yet it is often a missed opportunity as we become blinded by the day’s work rather than stay engaged. We can get caught up in the title of being a leader. Some people think this means that you need to hold all the answers. Instead, it is acknowledging that you don’t have all the answers and listening to the people that do.
Trust me, you do not want to hold yourself back by trying to know everything and closing your heart to new information. If you live in the realm of believing you know it all, you risk becoming a one-dimensional limited leader and missing possible opportunities that may appear right in front of you.
As leaders, we must be open to learning from the people we encounter. Remember, courage and humility are two key qualities and attributes of being a great leader and they must function hand in hand.
Saddle up, listen, and learn.
Bring you, all of you, the real you.
See what happens.
”When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know; but when you listen, you may learn something new.”
~ Dalai Lama
In service,
Greg
Dig deeper on the topic:
Listening is the Most Important Skill a Leader Can Have
