For over nine years, I've met with a mentor, Angela, monthly, for 30 minutes.
When I asked her if she'd consider being my mentor, my sense of looming rejection mirrored that of asking my 8th grade crush to the Spring dance.
Ever since she said, "yes, but only if the mentoring is two-way", she has dropped untold amounts of wisdom into my life. I'm not convinced I've reciprocated, but I'm grateful beyond measure for her commitment to our partnership.
One of my favorite "Angelaisms" is an awareness of how I'm corporately formatted.
Just like our iPhone has an OS, human beings also move through our days based on the formatting of our operating system.
Some of that operating system is based on how we were raised (values and beliefs), some on our education, and much of it on our experience.
Our operating system contains code and commands for listening.
The emphasis, skills, and regard we have for listening have been downloaded from institutions like school.
In a study of undergraduate business school curricula by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, 76% of the business programs had an oral presentation learning goal, 22%, a conversing goal, and 11%, a listening goal. Yet, the research had used prior empirical research and identified that of these three learning goals, listening was the most important competency in the workplace.
One would hope that the education source code for our operating system would be aligned to the skills needed in the 'real world of work'. However, the studies findings found misalignment between the skills needed in the workplace compared to those emphasized in business curricula.
Why is listening so important in the workplace?
People who feel listened to share more information: https://hbr.org/2021/12/how-to-become-a-better-listener
Collaboration is essential - no one person knows everything necessary to create outcomes. We must listen in order to collaborate https://hbr.org/2021/12/how-to-become-a-better-listener
Learning is the currency of careers - day one of a new job is the beginning of learning (not the end). In order to learn from each other, we must listen to what they have to teach us https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliapeart/2019/09/10/the-12-most-important-skills-you-need-to-succeed-at-work/?sh=68d9b19a1c6a
The good news?
We can update our operating system.
https://hbr.org/2021/12/how-to-become-a-better-listener
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1052562917748696?journalCode=jmed (**Great sources)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27151897/
