Listening Leaders Archived Edition

March 1, 2006

LISTENING LEADERS PERSISTENTLY PERSEVERE

Listening Leaders® are persistent in their drive to persevere in the unending quest to listen well.

As the listening challenge is unending, outstanding leaders are faced with the indefatigable task of developing: a purposeful mental state of mind; a strategic plan of meaningful activities; a refined set of skills; and, a method of benchmarking listening successes and failures. In short, productive leaders must persist in the engagement of a personal and systematic listening game plan for every listening situation. Perseverance and persistence of purpose is a base requirement of all Golden Circle Listening Leaders®. In some of the few words of President Calvin Coolidge, “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.” Unless it is Listening Leaders® who are persistent and persevere in their commitment to listening.

As perseverance is uniformly employed in any high sense of holding to a worthy cause regardless of the difficulty, danger, hindrance, or opposition, the productive listener’s consistent task is to commit to the worthy cause of listening. Not when it is simply easy, or convenient, or fun, or personally beneficial. Instead, consistently and persistently at all times.

At times the barriers to listening and leading on purpose are great, and as a consequence, the challenges to persist and persevere are equally great. Bloviating speakers, challenging environments, confusing messages, empty rhetoric, and disorganized discourse test the persistence of the best listeners.

Thus, effective Listening Leaders® are challenged to persist and persevere in every listening moment by consciously accepting the primary responsibility for the success of every communication they engage in. The constant mantra of every persistent listener has to be, “If it’s going to be, it is up to me.”

Next, persistent Listening Leaders® will find it easier to persevere if they properly prepare and set a clear-cut purpose for every communication. Preparation is a primary key to determining every listening purpose and remaining persistent.

In addition, listening persistence becomes easier when leaders position themselves properly. Controlling one’s proximity to the speaker and controlling distractions positively enables the opportunity to be persistent. When outstanding listeners couple the foregoing three guidelines with a personal promise to “take notes”, “plan to report”, and “share the essence of every important message”, the promise of personal persistence increases.

Henry David Thoreau hit the nail on the head when he observed, “I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor.”

The fact remains that perseverance in all endeavors is essential to human progress. In 1771, prior to the birth of our nation, Samuel Adams stated, “The necessity of the times more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance.” Although centuries have passed the simple truth of the importance of listening with persistence and perseverance have not changed. In fact, they may be more pressing throughout the world today than ever.

LISTENING LEADER KNOWLEDGE NUGGET: Listening Leaders® listen to the end.

Many poor listeners start late, wilt quickly, and quit early. In their listening process they find a multitude of reasons why they should persist no further. Unfortunately they never heard Charles Haddon Spurgeon’s unassailable observation, “By perseverance the snails reached the ark.”

Like the snails, history recounts thousands of stories of individuals who listened persistently and served as meaningful “servant leaders.”

Consider the story of Dr. Thomas Cooper who during the reign of Queen Elizabeth had persistently spent eight years editing a learned dictionary with the addition of thirty-three thousand words.

Unfortunately his wife who feared his perseverance was harmful to his health burned every note he had prepared. Upon discovery of his wife’s destructive action the Doctor heaved a deep sigh and said, “Oh Dinah, Dinah, thou hast given me a world of trouble.” Then he persistently spent another eight years of labor to replace the destroyed notes.

Or, how about Charles Goodyear who heard about an India rubber-life preserver and was told that the rubber would be of great value if cold weather did not destroy it. Out of curiosity, Goodyear purchased it with the knowledge that he would be persistent and listen to others who knew more than he did.

As a stream of experiments failed and his family suffered the necessities of life, Goodyear listened and persevered. Some of his best friends thought his persistence was a sign of insanity and abandoned him and his pursuit. Someone reported that when a man once asked where he could find Goodyear, he was told, “If you see a man with an India rubber cap, an India rubber coat, India rubber shoes, and an India rubber purse in his pocket, without a cent in it─that is Charles Goodyear.”

But Charles Goodyear was not crazy. In spite of spending years in debtor’s prison, he continued to listen to those who could advance his purpose. For years he persisted to overcome obstacles that would have disheartened lesser leaders. His persistence and listening led to inventing and patenting, and the process for vulcanizing rubber in the mid 1800’s, which altered the commercial use of rubber forever. Known as the “Invincible Rubber Man” Charles Goodyear should have been known as the “Invincible Persistent Listening Rubber Man.”

When the hundreds of thousands of Listening Leaders® throughout the world assume full responsibility for persistently listening, and training the next generation of persistent Listening Leaders®, and then persistently building Listening Organizations, extraordinary additional advances will take place.

LISTENING LEADER TIP OF THE WEEK: When the going gets tough, persist in listening longer and better than anyone else.

GOLDEN CIRCLE LISTENING LEADERS QUOTES OF THE WEEK:

Keep right on to the end of the road ~ Harry Lauder
Never say die ~ Proverb
Constant dripping hollows out a stone ~ Titus Lucretius Carus
I am a kind of burr: I shall stick ~ William Shakespeare
If at first you don’t succeed, Try, Try again ~ William Edward Hickson
Where there is a will there is a way ~ Proverb
Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go ~ William Feather
Persistent prophecy is a familiar way of assuring the event ~ George Gissing
“Tis known by the name of perseverance in a good cause, and of obstinacy in a bad one ~ Laurence Sterne

A LISTENING LEADER GIGGLE:

We trust you will enjoy the subtle humor imbedded in the powerful poem.

“YOU MUSTN’T QUIT”

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill, When the funds are low and the debts are high And you want to smile, but you have to sigh, When care is pressing you down a bit, Rest! If you must─but never quit.

Life is queer, with its twists and turns, As every one of sometimes learns, And many a failure turns about When he might have won if he’d stuck it out; Stick to your task, though the pace seems slow, You may succeed with one more blow.

Success is failure turned inside out, The silver tint of the clouds of doubt, And you can never tell how close you are, It may be near when it seems afar; So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit, It’s when things seem worst that YOU MUSTN’T QUIT

A LISTENING LEADERS KUDOS:

Kudos to every Winter Olympic competitor who persistently listened to their internal competitive drives, their family, friends, supporters and coaches voices, and their nationalistic pride. With relentless practice, they persisted in overcoming their inner fears and doubts to represent their homelands on a world stage. For a few measured moments they performed their best.

Some were victorious while many were not. Some received medals while many did not. Some will be forever listed as winners in the Olympic archives while many will be named as competitors only. Nevertheless, you practiced, you persevered and participated, and you persisted and performed against the best.

Whatever your sport and whatever your result, we Congratulate you all!

WE ARE LISTENING and invite your action:

LISTENING LEADERS WORKSHOP COMING TO CENTRAL FLORIDA - MARCH 8, 2006. Our workshop is designed to make sure what you learn at the workshop is transferred into practical, specific and measurable behaviors. You will leave this special and unique workshop with the complete Listening Leadership Development® System. Also, the Listening Leadership Certificate Program is now available for you to teach the Listening Leaders Workshop in your organization. For brochure, please contact Dr. Rick Bommelje at 407-679-7280 or send an email to RKB@ListeningLeaders.com. We are making strides in Advancing Listening Leadership Worldwide

Together, we can change the listening attitudes, skills, and knowledge of leaders throughout the world. We appreciate and invite your assistance in expanding our listening leader’s connections. Eight simple steps in advancing this important movement include:

Measure and record your level of listening persistence and perseverance. Where is there a need for growth? How will you grow?

Forward this newsletter to your children, grandchildren, friends and colleagues. More important, invite them to Subscribe to the “complimentary and weekly” newsletter by going to www.listeningleaders.com

Send us your listening leader insights, examples and stories.

Start a Listening Leaders Reading and Discussion Group. Invite your Librarian to purchase our Award winning LISTENING LEADER book.

As meeting, conference, and convention attendees spend the bulk of their time listening, please let others know of our availability to Keynote Conventions and customize Listening Leader Workshops.

Invite us to identify specific needs for listening development of leaders in your organizations.

Ask about our proven listening leader training programs and our customized in-house train-the-trainer strategies and our new Certification program.

We can help, we are committed, and we are listening.

Listen, Lead On & Make Today Count! – Manny & Rick

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LISTENING LEADERS: THE TEN GOLDEN RULES
TO LISTEN, LEAD & SUCCEED

By Dr. Lyman K. Steil
& Dr. Richard K. Bommelje

Publisher: Beaver’s Pond Press
(ISBN 1-59298-073-2)

A pioneering book that directly connects listening with leadership.Based on more than 50 collective years of work with listening leaders throughout the world, Dr. Steil and Dr. Bommelje have created 10 practical, proven, and priceless rules to enhance everyone's listening and leadership success. Although outstanding leaders are outstanding listeners, most leaders have neglected the development of their listening attitudes, skills and knowledge.

“This is the most significant book ever written on listening and leadership and will profit leaders at all levels in all types of organizations and enterprises.” Dr. Ralph Nichols, Father of the Field of Listening

ORDER YOUR COPY at www.ListeningLeaders.com or www.amazon.com

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Dr. Lyman K. (Manny) Steil
25 Robb Farm Road
St. Paul, MN 55127
651-483-3597
LKS@ListeningLeaders.com

Dr. Richard K. (Rick) Bommelje
8530 Amber Oak Dr
Orlando, FL 32817
407-679-7280
RKB@ListeningLeaders.com

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