the best boomer advice you'll hear today

Wanna hear something boomer af?

If we were supposed to talk more and listen less, then we would all have 2 mouths and 1 ear.

Sorry, that was super cringey 😬

(i’ve been talking to my Grandpa a lot recently and sayings are getting into my head)

Anyway!

The lesson still holds:

Listen more, talk less.

Be curious. There is so much to learn from literally everyone. And the only way to learn is to ACTIVELY listen.

When you actively listen, you aren’t just hearing, you are understanding.

This is the ultimate way to build trust.

Most people just want to be heard.

When I first started as a people manager for the first time at a Fortune 100 company, this turned out to be my particular edge.

I had an employee with a terrible attitude.

His overall demeanor and vibe was cancerous.

I got so many warnings about him from the outgoing manager, my boss, and his co-workers.

So, the first thing I did was sit down and have a 1-on-1 meeting with him in private.

And I just let him talk.

I would ask a few questions based on curiosity if it felt organic during the conversation (“What would you do differently if you could?”, “What do you do for fun?”, etc.).

And at the end of conversation, I had a few small action items that I took away from the conversation and immediately executed.

When he found out that his small improvements were noted and acted on, he became a different person.

It was crazy.

It literally took a couple hours of work, and he was a different person.

Just because someone had listened to him after 15 years.

It works.

There is a caveat here:

• If you already have status, talk less.

• If you’re trying to get it, speak up.

This doesn’t mean interject and ramble on about stuff you are ignorant about…

When you do speak, be quick and succinct.

But the point is, there’s a time for listening, and there’s a time for talking.

It changes with each situation.

And if you can capture the lightning listening ratio in each situation bottle you’ve leveled up in life.

It’s a true super power.

Remember:

Cheers,

Swanagan