Marketers are the worst at this – spending so much time developing elaborate and varied communications and strategies for saying what we want people to hear…and almost no time getting in another person’s world.

I’m not talking about the pauses we have in our communications – the ones that occur when someone else is talking. I’m talking about really getting in someone else’s world. The kind where you actually ask them, “hey, this is what I’m hearing, is that what you meant?” and then the other person has time to clarify.

If we assume we know what someone else is saying all the time, we’re not really giving them a chance to get heard. That gets us off the hook. It’s much easier and way less satisfying, to make it all about us.

Once you do really get what’s going on with someone, it opens up the possibility for everything – trust, authentic relationships, engagement, and business.

Try just being a listener to others for a day, and watch what happens to your day…. and watch the impact being heard has on other people.