Coach Dan's Blog

  📖 “He who establishes his argument by noise and command, shows that his reason is weak.” - Michel de Montaigne Those who belive the loudest voices have the best answer often miss out on hearing some of the most innovative ideas. Do not assign the highest value to the loudest idea. Ask the quiet people on the team what they think. It might just learn something new!

📖 “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”  ―  Plutarch Today is a great day to kindle the fire of curiosity in your mind. 🔥 Ask questions. 🔥 Listen to understand. 🔥 Encourage others to share different perspectives and ideas. 🔥 Show enthusiasm for finding answers. 🔥 Read or follow someone new. If you don't make time for curiosity, you run the risk of snuffing that fire out completely! What's stopping you? We all win together!

“Misinformation is powerful, not because it changes minds, but because it allows people to maintain their beliefs in light of growing evidence to the contrary.” -Charlie Warzel and Mike Caulfield The Internet Is Worse Than a Brainwashing Machine  

  💡 Quick challenge for today - Assess how you listen. We all know that it's better to "listen to understand" rather than "listen to respond." I would suspect that most of us also think that we do a good job of listening to understand. But do we? Assess yourself today - Set your alarm and schedule yourself 5 minutes today, and actively reflect... ❔ Did I listen to understand today? ❔ Was I quick to respond, or did I pause to reflect before I answered questions? ❔ Did I repeat back what I heard to validate I understood what the sender intended? ❔ In reviewing every meeting on my calendar, what new thing did I learn with each interaction? Changing our habits can be hard. What are you doing today to become a better listener?

Jane Goodall's quote resonates with me deeply, and is especially relevant when applied to the practice of change management. So often, changes start with the best of intentions, then devolves into a litany of communication plans, stakeholder management lists, status updates, milestones and deadlines. Every change, regardless of size and complexity, ultimately intersects with the values, thoughts and beliefs of the people impacted by that change. "Listening and then starting a dialogue..." before, during and after the change is fundamental to creating an environment that embraces change. Listen and then start a dialogue, and you are well on your way to creating an environment that embraces continuous change and improvement.  

We've all been on the receiving end before. You're in a conversation, and you just know the other person isn't listening to you. Oh sure, they are nodding in all the right places, and making "interested" sounds here and there. They answer your question, but you can just feel they weren't really interested in what you had to say. You get a response but leave the interaction feeling... not great. Why is actually listening so hard? I will be the first to admit - I'm not a good listener sometimes.  There are times when I've got a deadline that's not related to the conversation I'm having.  Sometimes I'm wondering what the dog is barking at, or what conversation is happening in the next cubical over. Sometimes my IMs start blowing up. Once in a while I 'already know' where this conversation is going and I know what I'm going to say next, so I time-share my brain off to other topics. Sometimes I'm just tired and over loaded and st...