Have you seen Garfunkel and Oates, the new IFC series starring the singing-comedy duo of the same name? It’s a wacky look at life through the off-beat perspective of two young and funny women. In one episode they run into a friend and his date and realize the woman (his date) has never uttered a word in their presence. As an experiment, G & O decide to not speak at all on the blind double-date they have later that evening. The joke was that their dates never even noticed Garfunkel and Oates didn’t say a word – because the guys were so busy talking nonstop.
It was funny.
However, it’s not so funny when you encounter people who won’t shut up, take a breath, or let you speak. I recently had a pretty bad customer service experience. I didn’t bother to complain that day because I was ready to get the heck out of the place but later told a professional acquaintance who works for the organization. She was surprised and soon after, the manager of the department called to set things right. What was interesting though, was the department manager talked nonstop and wouldn’t let me get a word in. I really wanted to share some information about the service but she couldn’t shut up long enough to listen.
Sigh.
I’ve written about listening before and maintain it is a key skill for leadership and career success. The good news is you don’t need to spend a lot of money on a course or development program to acquire this skill. Just stop talking and focus your attention on what others say. The more you practice, the better listener you become. Give it a try. You may learn something that will help you or your department be more successful.
Would love to know what you think of this. Please comment below.
My goal is to write 30 blog posts in 30 days the month of September.
#30in30
So many people I work with want to develop – as leaders or in their career or sometimes both. But the reality for many is a jam-packed schedule and limited resources making traditional development options like earning another degree at the local university unfeasible. 
Cultivating a healthy, green lawn has always been a challenge because we live under a canopy of live oak, magnolia, and other trees which limits sunlight reaching the ground. We sodded numerous times – sometimes paying people to cover the yard with little squares of grass and other times doing the backbreaking work ourselves but it never lasted very long. 
A coaching truism: self-awareness is the starting point for development. I