Mike, superintendent for a major general contractor in the greater Seattle area, told Session 7B of the Leadership Development Lab (LDL):

"Several weeks ago, while going about our normal weekend activities at home, the pride and joy of my life, our 16-year old daughter, mentioned that she would like to paint her room. While I did hear her, I sort of blew it off with no comment. Several days later, Lauren asked me directly if I would repaint her room and replace her drapes and bedspread. I asked her why since her bedroom walls matched every other room in the house. I just couldn’t see the need and basically planned to let this one go away.

Well, as we were learning about becoming genuinely interested (Leadership Principle #2), to be an active listener (Leadership Principle #6), and to see things from others point of view (Leadership Principle #5) in our Turbo Leadership Lab, I began to realize that Lauren had a special need for some individuality and that she was trying to express that by wanting to redecorate her room. Then in Session 3 when Larry challenged us to put five times more enthusiasm into a project, I immediately knew what to do.

I went home that night after class and asked Lauren if she wanted to take on redecorating her room with me. She was excited that we would plan it out and really do it up nice. Since I was working out of town

during the week my project was due, this developed a great reason to communicate with each other every day to talk about the details. We have discussed colors, added a ceiling fan to the project, and even developed a budget and a schedule. While we haven’t painted yet, we have been having a wonderful time discussing, planning and looking through decorating books on weekends. Our goal is to secure all the materials and be ready to complete her room before school starts.

The lesson I learned from this experience is that when I genuinely listen, really listen and not just hear, I know exactly what to do and how to go about it. When I just hear someone, I run the real risk of not doing anything at all.

The action I call you to take is practice listening and try to see the other person’s point of view. Take action and develop a plan. You will be empowered to do the right thing, whether it is in your personal or professional life.

The benefit you will gain is that you will not miss an opportunity to make a positive difference in someone else’s life as well as your own."