LEADERSHIP -HABIT

 

Hi there,

Today we shall be looking at Habit 5  - "Seek to understand, then to be understood"

The Principle of empathetic communication

Communication is the most important skill in the world - Stephen R Covey

Reading, writing, speaking and listening are the four basic forms of communication

Ability to Read, write , speak and listen shows we are ready to communicate.

Stephen R Covey - " Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. They're either speaking or preparing to speak "

Majority of us are victims of this act. Seeking first to understand is a conscious effort, so we must see reason to understand first, before trying to be understood.

The four levels of listening

🫴  Ignoring - In this case, we do not listen at all.

🫴 Selective listening - In this case, we only want to hear certain parts while others are ignored

🫴 Attentive listening -  In this case, we pay attention and focus our energy on the words that are being said. We pay keen attention to every detail

🫴 Empathetic listening -In this case, we listen with the intent to understand. We seek first to understand.

To seek first to understand, we must Diagnose before prescription.  So we must run a diagnosis to be able to know the best solution.

When we seek first to understand, the we can seek to be understood.

Maturity is defined as the balance between between courage and consideration - Stephen R Covey

Seeking to understand  requires consideration while seeking to be understood takes courage.

The Greek philosophy on seeking to understand, and to be understood

- Ethos , pathos , logos

Ethos - It is personal credibility. The faith people have in ones integrity and competency.

Pathos - It is the empathetic side , talks about our feelings.

Logos - It is about Logic. How we reason. 

We must consider Ethos, pathos before Logic.

Seeking first to understand and the to be understood promotes the WIN/WIN habit of highly effective people.

Excerpt: The 7 habits of Highly effective people by Stephen R Covey

Ref : Noble Leader's initiative Network 🤝