Listening to another’s feedback, opinion, perspective, story, proposal, recommendation, or advice doesn’t mean. . .
- I agree with you.
- I am bound to do as you say.
- I would have reacted the same way.
- Your perspective makes sense to me.
- Your approach is the correct one for me.
- I’m of the same mind as you.
- We have an agreement of some sort.
Listening simply means that I value you enough to pay attention.
The fundamental act of paying attention to someone, though, is powerful.
When people who matter to us pay attention to us, we feel significant, relevant, important, consequential. We also tend to like them more – just for listening to us.
So why don’t we ask more questions of our donors? Why don’t we seek their advice more often? Why aren’t we interested in learning more about their views on our plans? Why don’t we invite more of them to tell us what they think?
Maybe it’s because we aren’t fully confident in our abilities to simply listen.