Are you working hard at listening?
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...