As i was studying for my sales management test, i came across this line in my lecture notes. "Being able to conduct an efficient and effective sales interview requires communication skills. This means being able to plan, listen and ask pointed and meaningful questions. Among these three skills, the most important is listening skills. The sales person should first and foremost be a good listener."

Not that i'm saying we're all sales people or whatnot... But one thing that kind of stood out to me was.. In communication, the most important thing is listening. Maybe for some people, communication means being able to get your message across to the other person clearly and accurately, such that the person is able to understand what you are trying to convey. But i guess, sometimes, we often forget, that in communication, be it between 2 people or more.. the more important thing is actually listening. And by listening, i do not mean hearing. Hearing, to me, is just literally hearing what the person is saying. Listening means, hearing but understanding with your heart.

How often do we give others the chance to share with us what they are trying to convey, without us being judgmental or being a little assuming about certain things? How often do we enter into a conversation with someone, with the pre-notion of us trying to give different advices to them, with the idea of us being able to 'help' them? Sometimes, i guess, what a person wants is just someone who is willing to just listen. Not that i mean that we have to be like a motionless wall, no reaction, no emotion, etc.. We can still share with them what we think too, giving advices appropriately. But i guess what's most important is actually listening to what the person is really trying to say.

Sometimes "i'm okay" does not really mean "i'm okay"... I always feel that everyone needs someone who is willing to take the time to listen to them. Sometimes, it's the people who appears to be the strongest who really needs someone who is willing to listen and care.. Sometimes, a simple "Hey, how are you?" or just a simple act of giving someone a bit of your time to listen can actually make a whole lot of difference..