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Lay Aside Your Prejudices and Listen
By Steve Sjogren | July 21, 2006
In listening you quickly come to realize that in order to pick up on what others are really saying it is necessary to lay aside your prejudices, our preconceived ideas about what others are like who are in certain situations.
For example, “Well you know how those people are…” For the most part, the mainstream of American culture is no longer openly racist (though we are by no means free from that horrible perspective – believe me in this – my best friend is an African American – we speak often about this – I hear it from him and his wife regularly about the status of things). What is more openly done among us as a culture is prejudice on other issues – those who dress a certain way, those who have piercings, those who went to a certain graduate school (lawyer friends of mine can’t stand graduates of certain schools – won’t even talk with them much less respect them – it’s silly for professionals to behave this way!)…
One of the wealthiest attorneys in the US who has made a fortune in pioneering and heading up class action suits was educated at a state law school. It’s not about snootiness. Listening gives everyone a fair shake. Lay aside rules that make no sense. You serve. Be humble and you will score in a way that lasts.
Topics: Listening |
