Leadership Quote - Ernest Hemingway

Created by Erin Morey

Perhaps one of the lessons I could learn to adhere to more consistently:

When people talk, listen completely. 

- Ernest Hemingway

I have a bad habit of jumping to the end of a conversation/argument/discussion when conversing with another person. I use to interrupt people constantly to state their own point in an effort to show I understand (and to be honest, probably try to impress them with how "smart" I am). Over the years I've learned that people find this annoying and rude, to the point where they are unimpressed with me and often complain about my interactions. The other folly to this approach is that I often shut down conversations before all the information is conveyed, giving me only a partial picture. 

Instead, I've worked (still sometimes unsuccessfully), towards trying to speak last and listen completely. There are added benefits to this approach, especially as a leader:

1. You hear information and ideas that aren't influenced by your personal point of view/opinion.

2. Your team is more engaged and excited to share information because they know you will let them finish their thoughts and share their ideas.

3. You encourage group conversations and allow one idea to foster others within the team because you didn't jump to the end. 

All of these things are valuable and can provide valuable insight and ideas toward solving a problem. Simon Sinek discussed it:

As he said, "It sounds easy, it's not."

So what are you doing that isn't easy?

BTW, for those that don't know, Ernest Hemingway was an American author and journalist, whose style is believed to influence a lot of 20th century writing, even winning a Nobel Prize in 1954.

As for the picture and why it is set for Christmas Day, this is a picture of my youngest son and his Pre-School Christmas performance. Just before the performance the teacher pulled us aside and warned us that he refused to rehearse the show, so we shouldn't expect too much... The little guy had every motion, word, and song down pat and was one of the better performers; much to the surprise of the teachers and his parents!