“We offer others a chance to lighten their load when we say little and listen loudly.”
Human beings are hard-wired for connection. We need other people. We need to belong. We need to feel heard.
Stephen R. Covey is known for saying, “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” Haven’t you been on the receiving end of that kind of listening? And, let’s be honest, we’ve all probably “listened” that way too.
Ralph Nichols, considered the father of the “field of listening” believed that “the most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood.