The Listenary

Susan was at the folder when Tom came in, and she remembered how he had seemed distant when he left the day before. She reminded herself that she must take some time with him today. Then she realized Tom was coming over to say something to her in the midst of this nit-picky adjustment task.


“Tom,” she called in a warm, full voice, “could you spare some time with me today to catch me up on things that went on while I was out of the office last week?”


A delighted smile washed over Tom’s face as he felt acknowledged. “Oh, sure, Susan, just call me when you have a minute or two. I have some things I want to ask you, too. Thanks.”


Tom went to his workstation, adjusted equipment, and began his top jobs. His body moved in sync with his mind; his mind automatically organized things to be done in the most efficient order. He found the note he’d made to himself about the blemish in the corporate annual report’s main picture. He sent Susan a quick E-mail to let her know he had an urgent matter at hand.


About 10:00 Susan came by wondering if he could talk then. “I read your E-mail,” she said. “I like feeling that you are working with me to make things happen here. Let’s deal with the urgent matter first.”


The big question was whether the corporate job had been picked up yet or not. Susan looked it up in the computer records, found that it was due for pickup at 10:30, and asked Tom if he would be willing to discuss the 200 copies with the client. He agreed and they moved on to discuss the repositioning of the workstations that Tom had pictured.

The client picked up his job and called the blemish “minor.”


At lunch time, Tom and Susan explained the new paper flow to the others in their department and they all voted yes. Two hours of the afternoon were taken up in rearranging workstations and paper stacks. During the remaining two hours their department accomplished as much as they had sometimes in a full afternoon. And they all liked each other!

Actually, either Tom or Susan could have broken into the vicious cycle at any point and turned it into a synergistic spiral. The longer the cycle goes on, the harder it is to transform, but it is possible. The first feeling of acknowledgment produces cooperation, then better ideas, better questions, improved confidence, more effective feedback, and in the end true teamwork and solutions that succeed!


Listening is the lost link to getting heard and therefore to power and influence in business.