Richard Maun

Author: moderncareers

  • An Active Listening Tip

    Chicken tonight? Not this one.
    Chicken tonight? Not this one.

    In the run up to Christmas my mind is preoccupied with a host of trivia and I imagine that it’s the same for most people. Presents to buy, people to meet and office parties to attend, where you have to make small talk and look interested. A tip for all of us sipping white wine and pretending to have a good time, is to remember that if we want to look like we’re listening then it pays to switch off our internal dialogue.

    What’s going on inside our head tends to show up on our face. If we’re nodding attentively and at the same time musing over the question:

    “What shall I have for dinner tonight?”

    Then in reality we are listening to ourselves and not to them. A good tip is to stop the ticker-tape spooling between our ears, nod and say to the other person:

    “I hear you.”

    More often that you might think, people do need to be reassured and it’s much more engaging to do this, than to paper over a vacant stare with a friendly nod.

    …Now then what’s for dinner tonight? …Mmmm….let me think….

    In the Shop

    Christmas generates stress, in the same way that the sun generates heat. If you know of someone who could do with a cool down then I would recommend the Time Management pack in the shop. Look up the Drivers model and find useful ways to do things differently.

  • Take The Ten Minute Challenge

    Flickr Creative Commons: credited to The U.S. Army
    If dogs can do it, you can do it

    When was the last time you took ten minutes out of your day to reflect on progress made?

    We often talk about the need to ‘reflect’ and the truth is that we often fail to do any. I will be the first to hold my hand up and agree to that statement. Luckily for me though, I was reminded of the power of being reflective a few days ago, when meeting with a writing colleague. We talked about my writing progress and although I was pleased to report that I was typing out my next book at great speed, the wrinkle of her brow and the kindly, but thoughtful, smile made me realise that I needed to stop. Stop writing, take a step back and look at the work so far. Like a sculptor gazing thoughtfully at a half hacked marble bust, with his chisel held aloft, paused.

    The key here is that I know how to stop and think. I know how to pause and check a manuscript and hold it up to the light to see how it flows and whirls. I know all this and in my headlong haste I had forgotten to do it. Silly me.

    And that’s the point. It’s no good knowing what to do it if you don’t do it. I needed to spend time with my friend to help remind me of the need to stop.

    So, here is a friendly challenge. When you arrive at work tomorrow, set your mobile phone alarm to bleep later on that day to remind you to go to a new meeting. The only person in the meeting will be you and the agenda has one item on it: Quiet thinking and reflection. It’ll be a great meeting and perhaps the best ten minutes of your day. I’ll be interested to hear how well you get on …and I might have a go myself…sounds like a fun challenge!