Listen Twice as Much

I was in a lot of meetings last week. While this is often a normal part of my job, last week I had a few more meetings than usual.

But the people in the meetings wanted to talk.

And talk.

And talk.

And they didn’t want to listen.

Or give the opportunity to speak.

Or allow any other opinions to be heard.

For some reason, almost every meeting I was in last week everyone thought it was about the rest of us LISTENING to them about whatever the topic was, versus INTERACTING about the topic that the meeting request was about.

Sound familiar?

A Real Christian Businessman knows that in order for a meeting to be remotely successful, there needs to be SOME portion in which the participants talk to each other and utilize the viewpoints and expertise of everyone involved in order to improve whatever situation they are meeting about.  Mutual respect and collaboration need to come into play.

“Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.”  Prov 11:14 ESV

How do you do in meetings?  Do you do a lot of talking?  Listening?  Contributing? Do you allow others to talk?

If you are the one in charge of the meeting, next time be sure to think about others and foster a way to bring the ideas out from all of those that are in the meeting with you.  It is what a Real Christian Businessman is supposed to do.