July-August 2006 -- WELCOME

THE LISTENING CONNECTION
--your world-wide connection to "effective-active listening"

EAR-OPENING CONTENTS

1)July-August Ear-Opening Commentary.
"Listening - Ear-Opening Opportunities to our Futures"

2) Your INTERACTIVE DIMENSION - Your Opportunity: To Respond to these July-August Questions of the Month

3) World-wide INTERACTIVE RESPONSES to the June 2006 Edition Questions

4) July-August Thought Provoker.

5) Ear-Opening Limited Package Special!!
Gifts of Hope and Inspiration

1) Listening: Ear-Opening Opportunities to Our Futures

by Greg Bauer

Do you really care about your future?

How much do you really care about your future?

Let's be Honest!

Oh, I can see most of you at this point frantically looking for the quickest way to click me out-of-sight and out-of mind.

You know who you are. Yes - that's right, those of you saying to yourself "This sounds like too much work with way too much involvement on my part to tune in and take an active roll in really participating and actively learning to listen for the signs that will determine the outcomes of my future."

Our journey will NOT be for the faint-of-heart or the weak-of-mind whether you are a business leader, community leader, national/international leader or politician, entrepreneur, religious leader, a person that works with or amongst other individuals, a spouse, a parent, or an individual that is desiring to make a difference.

Warning! The faint-of-heart and weak-of-mind need not read any further. You won't be able to tolerate the excitement generated from the positive-life-benefits that you will encounter. Yes, you have permission to click off now.

For those of you that are determined, motivated, and ready to take the responsibility for growing and creating your own dynamic future and overcoming the pitfalls endured, let's continue on in pursuing our "ear-opening opportunities to our futures" together.

How many ear-opening life experiences are you missing out on that could lend themselves to opening new doors of opportunity and development for your company, your organization, your community, your relationships, your family, and yourself by your better focusing on, knowing how, practicing, and utilizing the power of effective-active-listening as being a much larger part of your daily lifestyles?

Now, be very honest with yourself in answering each one of the questions posed above. Be very honest with yourself in your evaluation process of yourself in each of the above-mentioned areas of your life, especially pertaining to your active-listening efforts.

The following ear-openers, if used daily, could significantly help launch your goals, desires, and people skills into new uncharted dimensions:

Ear-opener #1 -- All efforts focused on how they help others by your eliminating the "me" factor from your lifestyle and daily activities. People are attentive, committed, and loyal to those individuals who are interested and dedicated to helping them, their projects, and their causes.

Ear-opener #2 -- Be consistent, dedicated, and unwavering in all of your thoughts, expressions, and ideas. -- Walk your talk -- People have a tendency to believe a person and/or organization that doesn't keep dramatically changing their/its mind, ideas, and convictions.

Ear-opener #3 -- Become the attentive-active listener -- Don't become known as "The Interrupter." Interrupters are oftentimes ignored and their points of view are not taken seriously because others perceive that their thoughts and ideas were derived from a reactionary perspective rather than that of a proactive perspective.

Now, we need to revert our way to thinking back to the initial question posed:

How much do you really care about your future?

Today is the best time for you to start intertwining ear-openers 1, 2, and 3 into your daily lifestyle for the next 41 days. You will begin to recognize the rewards and benefits that you so deserve and feel the enduring energies derived from your efforts.

2) YOUR INTERACTIVE DIMENSION -- YOUR OPPORTUNITY: RESPOND TO THESE JULY-AUGUST QUESTIONS OF THE MONTH.

BRIEFLY EXPLAIN:

(1) What prompted you to accept the challenge posed in this July issue and begin to intertwine ear-openers 1, 2, and 3 in everyday lifestyle?

(2) What attributes have you discovered by your accepting and practicing ear-openers 1, 2, and 3 as part of your newly founded life skills?

*YOUR OPPORTUNITY -- CONNECT WITH:*

THE LISTENING CONNECTION

YES -- This is your opportunity to share any of your answers (responses) to the questions from above with our international audience of subscribers of The Listening Connection. 1) We will include your answer(s)/response(s) in our next (SEPTEMBER) issue. 2) Our readers (subscribers) would also appreciate your providing us with your first name only, state you reside in (if in the U.S.), and your country. We are really looking forward to sharing with you new horizons in The Listening Connection being your worldwide connection to "effective-active listening". E-mail your perspectives/responses to: gregbauer@listenone.com.

3) WORLDWIDE INTERACTIVE RESPONSES TO
THE JUNE 2006 EDITION QUESTIONS:

(1) Share with us some of the symptoms/signs of your not "utilizing the power of effective-active listening" from all aspects of your life:

- At work?

- At Home?

- At Play?

- ___________________?

(2) What is it going to take for you to alter your perspectives to make the commitment to better "utilize the power of effective-active listening in your daily course of life?

Responses to the June questions 1 and 2:

JAMES -- MICHIGAN -- USA

My work environment in manufacturing was in a rushed-hurried pattern. The expected speed from drawings to completion of the finished product was increased dramatically over the past two years. These new deadlines had created an atmosphere where mistakes occur more frequently and in some cases projects are started all over again from start to finish. Along the way (during the past two years) we had been forced to sharpen our listening skills dramatically in order to keep up with corporate and customer demands.

However, about four months ago, a team of six of us began listening to and viewing the big picture. We concluded that these, now faster than ever, expectations were beginning to compromise the quality of our finished products and the long-term satisfaction of new and already-established customers. We took our thoughts and findings that were derived from our persistent listening efforts, to the corporate V.P.s and managers. After their reviewing of our findings, they concluded that we should cut back on speed and place more emphasis on the long-term quality of the finished product. We've also been making great strides toward our not having to do steps over and over again and have totally eliminated doing projects all over again. Our working environment has changed our major focus always being on speed and has shifted to our major emphasis being constantly focused on quality. Our team of 6 gives credit to our sharpening our listening abilities and skills to meet the quality demands of the future.

BRYCE -- PENNSYLVANIA -- USA

Yes, listening is a vital necessity of life as I shockingly began to realize some 6 to 8 months ago as I was beginning to develop relationships with an entire new connected group of, what I thought were, new friends.

On the surface, they appeared to be friendly. They claimed to have some like interests that seemed to coincide with mine. They also, on the surface, seemed to share in many of the beliefs that were very important to me as I was preparing to graduate from college next year and enter the corporate marketplace.

As time progressed, I began to really listen to tidbits of conversations that this already-connected group was having amongst themselves. I didn't like what I was hearing, and the more I kept listening, the more my inner listening voice was telling me to sever ties with all members of this group before they sucked me in, took control of my beliefs, and possibly destroyed my future. My intuition was correct and corroborated my many other students and even some trusted faculty members.

Thank you for reminding me of just how vital listening is to everyone's future. Yes, I've made two new friends since and we're all very supportive in listening and sharing honestly with each other in focusing on the big picture.

ELIZABETH -- WASHINGTON -- USA

My life has been very hectic, especially in the past 3 years, as I've been attempting to balance a growing number of activities that include: being a caring wife, being a good supportive mom to 4, 7, and 10-year old loving children, completing a master's degree program, teaching elementary school students fulltime, being the committee chair for our church's biggest fund raising event, heading up several new regional teaching initiatives, and dealing with our 6-year old's ongoing physical therapy.

Listen! When?

Your commentary is so perfect and so timely in my life. I'm starting my own self-awareness and self-preservation listening program. I've started to take two 5-10 minute blocks of time twice a day to listen to myself and collect my thoughts. It's time for me to rearrange, relabel, and eliminate some of my life elements. I've placed my husband and kids back on top of my list.

DAVID -- TENNESSEE -- USA

It became very apparent during the past 2 years, at my place of employment at a manufacturing plant, that something was going terribly wrong with our entire operation. Once the general manager, of the past 2 years, was fired and eliminated then all operations proceeded ahead at a very rapid pace.

Some examples of his destructive behavior included:

(1) His positioning of all projects and their accomplishments so that he always took the entire credit for their success and would eventually lead to his promotion to be one of the VPs in the home office.

(2) His expressing a great amount of impatience with managers, engineers, and foremen, and never hearing a supportive word from him to anyone. His reputation became known far and wide.

(3) His reputation also became known as being a reactionary leader and one that kept losing control of the big picture.

We all now have come to the conclusion that listening is so very important to our operation and its future.

This brings to mind, with all the world conflicts we keep hearing about on the media, how much do all the world governments and their leaders realize how listening is a vital necessity of all our lives?

WINNEY -- MAINE -- USA

We were living in the Midwest when our then 7 year old son who was badly injured as a passenger in a serious car accident.

Over 2 years have passed and our son has been continuously receiving very supportive physical therapy. However, when the accident first occurred, the doctors, nurses, specialists, and therapists were providing tons of help and advice. My husband and I were listening, taking it all in, making decisions, and all proceeding ahead with the mending and helping of our son.

However, about 2 months into this whole process, our very bright 7 year old son posed some profound questions to myself, my husband, and the doctor while we were all in the room together: "What happened to me? Why did this happen to me? Does anyone care what I think? Does God know? When can I play with my friends?"

Time has passed and those profound questions still stick out in my mind almost every time I see our optimistic son. Ever since that "ear-opening" encounter we had with our son, we've made it a top priority to involve him in all of the decision-making efforts in his rehabilitation process. We've empowered him.

We put a check on our reactionary behaviors, took the focus off ourselves, and learned to have a greater amount of patience through our son's example.

Your "Listening Connection" commentaries are an affirmation of our real life experience and its teachings. Thank you.

P.S. -- We have encouraged many of our friends, therapists, and co-workers to subscribe to their (free) subscription of "The Listening Connection."

4) JULY-AUGUST THOUGHT PROVOKERS

-- Anonymous

-- Emerson

5) Ear-Opening Package Special

The Breathing Blanket (book)
GREG BAUER – AUTHOR – VICTIM AND SURVIVOR OF A NEAR-DEATH DRUNK-DRIVING CRASH EXPERIENCE REVEALS IN HIS RECENTLY RELEASED INSPIRATIONAL BOOK – THE BREATHING BLANKET – HOW YOU CAN DISCOVER AN “I CAN DO IT” ATTITUDE BY INTERNALLY “UTILIZING THE POWER OF EFFECTIVE-ACTIVE- LISTENING”.

Celebrate Selling the Consultative Relationship Way (book)
Greg Bauer -- "The Guru of Listening" -- Co-Author
Opportunities in your personal life and corporate life are created by actively promoting and practicing relationship building and active listening efforts. This book reveals ways to establish and build relationships in customer service, management, sales, networking and self-promotion in the 21st century.

The Breathing Blanket (book)
(Limited remaining 1st edition copies)

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Your investment in your future
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ATTENTION: SUBSCRIBERS

(1) Our focus of this Newsletter will continue and remain on techniques, skills, and attitudes toward how we better "Utilize the Power of Effective-Active-Listening"™ in future issues.

(2) Your ideas and suggestions as to subjects you would like to hear about in the upcoming issues of this Newsletter - The Listening Connection - pertaining to listening would really be appreciated and we would like to hear from you at gregbauer@listenone.com.

In The Spirit of Sharing With Others . . .
. . . Opportunities Become Accomplishments™

©Greg Bauer (President, Greg Bauer & Associates, Inc. / DBA Listen1) Editor/Publisher 2006

· Looking forward to our sharing the next edition of The Listening Connection