Communication II: Seek First to Understand

As my last blog entry for this topic, I want to add my final thought around compassionate communication. Ultimately, I think the key to truly compassionate communication is seeking to completely hear and understand someone before seeking to be understood ourselves. Once someone feels heard fully, they are much more likely to be in a place to help you be heard as well.

All of the work we are doing this year is about being able to be in such a place that we have space between our thoughts and our actions so we can be at choice around what we do and say. We can pause long enough to hear someone else. We can pause long enough to then choose words that won’t hurt the other individual.

Who do you need to hear today?