Listen better
I presented in front of the class for the first time last night. My task was to report the changes that my team had come up with regarding a case study given by our professor. I thoroughly enjoyed working with my classmates. The time seemed to fly by as I listened and kept notes on all the suggestions that we discussed. It was a truly great experience to suggest, defend, and assimilate information from different people. I put a lot of effort into listening what we all discussed and synthesizing it into a coherent summary. The next great thing was listening to my other classmates present. Many of us had similar ideas, but every now and then, I felt a ‘wow’ feeling when someone would put an idea forward that our group hadn’t considered. In a more broad sense, it helped remind me of the potential of everyone. In my current position, I deal with individuals who are sometimes overlooked or discounted because they work in industrial level jobs. Today, one person came up to me and almost immediately we were on the subject of the passing of her husband in July. She just wanted someone to talk to about what she was going through. The conversation floated into different things, but at the end of the conversation I expressed my gratitude for telling me her story and I wished her a good day. Listening is not only a powerful tool for business, but also a simple way that we can help to strengthen each other.