Most people want to feel heard, not fixed. When someone shares a problem, they need validation first. Leaders who pause to listen empathetically before jumping to solutions create more value than those who rush to fix things.
Here's one of the great values of listening, which is most people actually don't want the thing they ask for. Most people want to feel heard. The number of times in our lives where someone comes to us with a problem or concern or a feeling, they state it, whether they state it well or badly, they state it, and too many of us go into fix-it mode, especially at work. I think lots of people in an executive position go into fix-it mode because they don't want disruption and they want efficiency and they want people to get back to work. And sometimes it's well-intentioned. I just want to help. Yeah, there are really good human leaders who just get it. Wrong. And very often it's just the willingness to take the time to explore what somebody's saying and where it's coming from. And at the end of that meeting, somebody go, yeah, thanks. No, I really, I really appreciate you listening. I'm good, thanks. And it was never about the thing.
AI Won't Tell You the Full Truth | Arthur Brooks + Simon Sinek | A Bit of Optimism Podcast
How To Make the Best Decision | Arthur Brooks and Simon Sinek | A Bit of Optimism
