Friday, October 10, 2008

A New Skittle!


If any of you recall, I am in class at University of Phoenix. This has been an interesting, fun ride so far. Still carrying a 4.0 cumulative with 3 classes under my belt so far.

In my current class, Organizational Leadership, I had gotten a green skittle in the first week. I was excited because of my 13 out of 13 skittle spree in my Human Capital Management class. I was giddy with excitement to know that this instructor gave out skittles. Be advised that Julie Gibbons (Business Law) does not reward substantive comments.

So, I got a skittle in my first week. Then BAM-MO-O !! UoP begins experiencing technical difficulties. Everything from week 1 was lost. I was sad. I had forgotten that our instructor gave out skittles.

Now we are into week 3. A stem off from the discussion questions prompted our instructor to pose this question. My response to this question netted me a green skittle! The skittles are back and I have received 2 out of 2 that she has given out... so far.

Instructor Question:
William hit on a great topic in the discussion on communication - listening. The American culture is not really good at this skill. Asian cultures seem to be very good at it. I very much enjoy this Chinese symbol for 'to listen.' If you look at it, and I know it is small, it has actually 4 symbols in 1 - Ear (left), Heart (bottom right), Eyes (top right), and Undivided Attention (center right).


What portion of the communication channel do you think listening is? How do you think we can learn to take the time to listen and what would be the impact on our team members, supervisors, direct reports, family members, etc?

My response that netted me a Green Skittle:

Listening is certainly an all inclusive "sport". I say sport because when done correctly and fully, it is an endeavor, not just a past time. It requires interaction. It requires effort. But of the symbols given, ear, heart eyes and undivided attention, I have to say that listening for me involves the eyes. I am a visual person. I am a people watcher when I go to the mall. I use my eyes to look into the faces of people at work or at church and can "listen" to the pain they are going through from seeing the brokenness and hurt in their eyes. I use my eyes to listen to the joy and excitement of my 5 year old who has discovered the joy of reading. I use my eyes to listen attentively to the non-verbal language everyone uses to convey how they feel, what they mean, what they want and if they understand what I am saying.