31
2011
18 Second Listening
An article by 
Reading Ben Stroup’s blog last week I came upon a brilliant video from Tom Peter’s about 18 second listening:
As a leader it is easy for us to get so caught up in our dreams, vision, and busyness then steamroll people as they attempt to enter into a conversation with us. It is incumbent on us who serve in church leadership to discipline ourselves to slow down the gears in our heads enough to listen to what people are saying to us and fully understand what they are trying to communicate. We have all met people who have made us feel as though we had nothing important to say, or worse have a totally flawed understanding of who we are because they did not listen. I have a general dislike towards most fish dishes yet a boss introduced me to a group of three hundred people by telling them how much I enjoy eating fish. We have all had these experiences, yet it is easy to fall into the habits that cause us to stop listening and begin steamrolling.
Do YOU struggle with listening well? How do YOU develop the discipline of listening in your life?
About the Author: Matt Steen
Over the last fifteen years I have been a Church Planter, Youth Pastor, Executive Pastor, and now I serve as a Church Concierge with churchsimple.net. I love Jesus, my wife, the Redskins and Capitals and am currently living on Long Island striving to properly pronounce the word G'island.
