“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin
https://vimeo.com/157317634
In business and in life, it is critical that you always be learning. As an entrepreneur, startup CEO, or executive, it is even more important. When you are in leadership, you need to listen and HEAR what other people are saying. Always be learning and always be listening. Work to listen more than you talk. This is easy to forget when you progress in your career and you start to know a lot.
It is very easy to fall into the trap of thinking you know the answers, even before the question is asked. Resist this trap. If you don’t listen with a “clean” perspective, you might miss things, even subtle things that could make a big difference. Try to think of ways that your thinking may be flawed. Make yourself vulnerable to other ideas and perspectives. Try to listen as if you never heard anything about this topic before. Listen with curiosity. Ask questions, then listen for the answers. Try to really HEAR what people are saying. ACTIVELY listen to others. It will pay HUGE dividends. Especially with your customers, your spouse, and you kids.
This is Patrick Henry, the CEO of QuestFusion, with The Real Deal…What Matters.