January-February 2007 -- WELCOME

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

EAR-OPENING CONTENTS

1) January-February Ear-Opening Commentary.
"Discover Life's Real Rewards"

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

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

4) January-February Thought Provoker.

5) New Audiobook Released!!

1) Discover Life's Real Rewards

by Greg Bauer

The real rewards in life evolve from our relentless, patient, and yet persistent initiatives in our helping others in all aspects of our lives while interacting with their lives.

I was reminded of this life-giving (God-given) perspective. In a very humbling, surprised, and delightful encounter. I recently experienced this encounter while my wife and I were waiting to be seated at a local restaurant for dinner.

Upon my turning around, a very charming, confident, and smiling woman was approaching me, stood right in front of me, and our eyes locked onto each other's in a face-to-face encounter.

A long pause ensued and I vaguely recognized her face.

She then proceeded to enthusiastically tell me that without my help and assistance she would not be in her life where she is today.

A brief pause . . .

She then began to elaborate on the details surrounding her opening statement and that is when I definitely knew who Colleen was and how our life paths crossed.

She then very confidently proceeded to share with me how the two years of Communications (Speech) Courses that she took from me as her instructor in high school had allowed her to succeed in her present pursuits in life. Now some 35 years later she is happily married with four grown sons. She has now been an ICU nurse for many years at a large local hospital where she heads up that department's efforts. Throughout the years she has established many critical programs and a special expertise in this medical area. So much so that she is repeatedly asked to give presentations, nationally, about her unique program and expertise.

She told the group that she was dining with that she would catch up with them as soon as she was through thanking me.

She continued to thank me for providing her with the confidence it takes to speak before others, the skills and mindset it takes to put together a great presentation, confidently deliver a meaningful presentation, and be able to do all of this in a profession/mission in life that she loves in her pursuit to listen to and help others.

I was very humbled and honored by this encounter and how I (amongst many other individuals in her life) could be of service to help her and her helping others on her path of life.

Colleen, may God continue to bless you and your pursuits in helping others on their paths of life.

The real rewards in life are discovered and evolve from our relentless, patient, and yet persistent initiatives in our helping and listening to others in all aspects of our lives while actively interacting with their lives.

What a wonderful dynamic world we live in where opportunities abound as a direct result of people listening to and helping each other.

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

BRIEFLY EXPLAIN:

(1) What one individual has made a significant impact upon your life? How?

(2) How have you lately attempted to help another individual(or listen to another individual) without expecting to receive anything in return?

*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 (March-April) 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 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2006 EDITION QUESTIONS:

How much do you really care about and truly have to actively listen to every individual that you encounter daily?

How self-absorbed have you become in your own world and all of it's outcomes?

AL -- NEW ENGLAND STATES -- USA

I recently had an earth-shaking experience that really reminded of how important listening is in my life.

I've been in the IT world for about 8 years as a support technician overseeing the on-going technical operations of our cleints' equipment. Anytime a problem occurs I am usually notified online, respond back, ask further questions, and receive responses all online from our clients. If I have to physically be at the clients' offices I'm there in their slower off hours as to not interrupt their operations. So you see, I have very little face-to-face human encounter with our cleints. I've begun to comfortably settle into a lifestyle of communicating (e-mailing) on my job some 8-10 hours per day - six days a week. I began to enjoy this way of communicating with others in all of the other aspects of my life, including people at our church, our friends, our two kids away at college in California and North Carolina, relatives, and even my own parents all the way across the country in Oregon.

Then one day my sister e-mailed me from Oregon and stated that our mother became critically ill with pneumonia and was in the hospital. We continued to e-mail each other for the next two days and then my sister called me on the phone (a method I seldom now use to communicate) and she exclaimed:

"I don't feel any emotion, heartfelt caring, or your presence in your flat unemotional words of your e-mails. I'm missing you, big brother, where are you? Is this how you communicate with everybody? I need you!"

My digital tracts came to a screeching halt.

We agreed to start exclusively communicating over the phone daily about mother's condition and other matters in the future. I even ended up flying out to see my mother, sister, and other family members as our mother was being released from the hospital.

I thank my sister for reminding me of how important everyday face-to-face and even voice-to-voice contacts really are in all aspects of our lives.

JANET -- NEBRASKA -- USA

Thank you for sharing your commentary on people-partnering-connections. Your article prompted me to reflect back on the many people that I encountered in this past year at work, socially, and even my own family members.

I'm actually quite embarrassed by my reflections. For the most part, my communications with these individuals centered around my getting things done -- my accomplishing my own initiatives. I did not take the time to really make each of these individuals a part of my on-going efforts. I did not create any meaningful/long-term partnerships with anyone. I did not even take the time or effort to really grow my relationship with my husband of 14 years.

I've prayed about my self-centered lifestyle and have committed to take a more genuine interest in each individual I come in contact with daily.

For one, I go beyond the customary -- Hello! How are you?

I stop, slow down, look them in the eyes, and actually take a sincere interest in their responses. I take the focus off of me and make every effort to keep it off of me. For two, I take extra steps to involve them and their input in final outcomes. So far, my attempts at partnering with others for the long term has been very rewarding.

Thank you! I'm now back in the people business and enjoying life.

WILLIAM -- MASSACHUSETTS -- USA

The world around me is completely self-absorbed. Everyone is very much interested and focused on how they can get ahead in the world, how fast that can happen, and how rapidly they can start reaping the rewards (mostly financial and corporate ladder drive).

And the description above describes me to a tee. I truly enjoy this fast-paced, high-energy lifestyle.

Then it happened, I got a very bad cold and then the flu set in and my world came to a sudden standstill. I could not get out of bed for any period of time or even keep my eyes open for almost a week. A week of self-reflection set in.

For the first time in many years I began to ponder on what are the most valuable aspects of my life. I began to realize that I needed to start enjoying the journey -- my journey -- of life. I needed to begin listening to and enjoying the dynamic moments as they occur more in a state of slow motion.

It's been about six months since my week of self-reflection. I've really grown. Life is richer and more dynamic in so many ways.

My daily hour-long walks along the coast have provided me with the opportunity to think and develop my thinking to renew my relationship with God.

My taking time to listen to others has provided me with opportunities to develop new relationships with individuals who really care about others -- a unique value-added dimension to my journey of endless opportunities.

BETH -- ILLINOIS -- USA

Yes, I am in the people business, or at least that is the business that I'm supposed to be in.

I arrange, set up, and coordinate all of the adult programs that take place in our church on a monthly basis. I have to arrange, promote, and deal with the many details months in advance of each program and/or event. Month after month I've become so bogged down with details that I can't think straight anymore. After all, I'm supposed to be helping to nourish people both spiritually and pragmatically. I've been praying for assistance -- an intervention.

Then your commentary appeared on my computer screen. I read it once - twice - three times. I said to myself - "This is it - People".

Ever since reading and better understanding your commentary I've begun to listen to and activate others' suggestions much more so and share more and more details in getting them done with many volunteer church members. These volunteers have enjoyed their experiences so much that they have asked for other details of other projects they could help work on.

Coming in contact with each volunteer's heart, mind, and soul is becoming as significant a dimension as the actual program or event itself.

KAY -- MICHIGAN -- USA

My boss sent me off to a convention in another state to represent our company at a display/sales booth for three days. I was expected to socialize with potential clients and briefly familiarize them with our product line. My boss's benchmark was for me to return with 150 names, phone numbers, and tentative products of interest for our telemarketing team to follow up on, followed by our team of closers.

I had a great time, met a number of individuals, discussed their needs, and reviewed several possible solutions by their using our products. I was very pleased with my results of 3 days and returned with 55 solid prospects' names.

However, the next day after my return from this convention, my boss literally exploded into a raging ball of fire over my bringing back so few leads. He raged and fumed over this matter for a week and let everyone in the company know how displeased he was with my performance.

I personally followed up with 5 of them the following week, and closed with all 5 of those prospects with immediate multiple-product orders. I carefully listened to the prospects' needs, took a personal interest in each person (prospect), carefully evaluated their situation with their help, and made recommendations they resoundingly accepted.

The next week, one of the people of the five companies I did business with called into our company for some follow up tech-support advice. This new customer (the person - one of that firm's VPs) caught wind of my boss's displeasure with my performance at the convention through his conversation with not only our tech support, but also a phone call he placed to our shipping department.

The next thing I know, I'm receiving a phone call from this VP that I met and is now a customer. He asked me about what he had heard in the wind about my boss's displeasure over my performance at the convention. I confirmed his findings.

Then the next thing I know, this VP is offering me a sales position with his company with a much larger base salary, with no ceilings on possible future commissions, and a much more positive and energetic atmosphere to grow in for the future. He then added, for me to take off the next ten days and take a well-deserved vacation with pay before starting my new position.

I enthusiastically accepted.

I have now been at my new position for two months and enjoy being in the flourishing people business -- not the numbers business.

4) JANUARY-FEBRUARY THOUGHT PROVOKER:

Today's Thought Provoker

5) New Audiobook Released...  
Explore / Expand Your Internal-Effective-Active-Listening Potential With These Exciting New Audiobook Options!

The Breathing Blanket

NOW AVAILABLE ! ! !

CD   --   MP3 CD    --   DOWNLOADABLE DIGITAL FORMATS

NARRATED BY THE AUTHOR -- GREG BAUER

*Stay posted to our website (www.listenone.com) for further action press releases regarding this international launching of these audio book formats.

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 2007

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