Feels like we are moving through January at lightning speed! But that is exactly why the sign-up for the 21-Day Better Listening Challenge© has been extended! You can still participate… just enroll with us by next Sunday, January 31st.
Last month, we told you about the Challenge and its merits to us as individuals in our everyday lives, as well as for making our organizational environment more inclusive. If anyone in the League … at our meetings, via virtual communications or phone, at events… does not feel heard… they do not feel seen nor valued. It is as simple as that.
Effective listening puts others in the center of our focus and thus, conveys a sense of belonging and, dare I say, inclusion. Saying we are inclusive doesn’t do the trick. And since the benefits of diversifying a group include getting different perspectives, one must listen and consider the offerings that only come through to us by hearing them being expressed.
Last week while doing the Challenge, I personally came across a great list called the “Listening Sixers”! The directions were as follows: Start to listen artfully to the conversations that are taking place around you at your school, workplace, place of worship, or home. Pick a specific conversation and L-I-S-T-E-N for the following:
- Did the listener welcome the speaker to the conversation in any way?
- Did the listener allow the speaker to express all of his or her thoughts?
- (…to be continued on the Better Listening Challenge Page)
Register and engage to find the remaining list of #3 – #6 additional pointers to L-I-S-T-E-N for and then process what you heard. Doing this for several days, even if just in your own household, sensitizes oneself to what works in a conversation and how a conversation fails. Then you will be ready to connect with a speaker yourself using the “Listening Sixers”. I personally printed off a copy to serve as a readily accessible cheat sheet to consult with.
Although we have League members from across NYS enrolled and engaged in this Challenge (many thanks for your involvement), more would be great in order to effect the change we seek in our collective behavior. Please reenforce the notice of the extension to your local league members via an email blast, or just forward this email to your friends in the League, to alert them of the new deadline date of Sunday, January 30th. It is not too late to start on completing the 21-Days by engaging in the Better Listening Challenge© after registering by the final registration date at: https://lwvnys21daybetterlisteningchallenge.eventbrite.com. Questions? Email Regina Tillman at rmt370@gmail.com. Thank you!
By: Regina Tillman, rmt371@live.com and Crystal Joseph, campus@lwvnyc.org, Co-Chairs
