Time to ‘listen to each other again’

Welcome to this blog, I’ve been writing about diversity and inclusion for some time now, both for my day job, as a diversity and inclusion lead, and in my own capacity as someone passionate about the topic. Given all that’s been happening in the world I wanted to create a space to discuss the issues of the day so I set this up. Thank you so much for being here and hope you enjoy it.

So here we go.

Wow, what a weekend it has been. The news of Joe Biden winning the presidential election was just what the free world needed right now. As the news continues to settle, we can reflect on what happened; Joe Biden has been nominated as the next US president, Kamala Harris will become the first female Vice President; the first Black VP and first South Asian VP. A momentous day indeed, and one which hopefully will begin to restore some balance to a very divided America.

This wasn’t a landslide victory; over 70 million Americans voted for Trump, a president that refused to condemn white supremacy and instead asked them to ‘stand back and stand by’!

We have to reflect on how damaging it is to have such a divisive leader at the top. There are no easy answers to ending structural racism but at least Biden wants to try and tackle it. His promise to ‘heal America’ is certainly a welcome start. 

If this year has taught us anything, the time now is to defy complacency; be brave and stand up against racism. We all have our part to play in that.

Listening…and I mean REALLY listening (The technical term for it is Active Listening)…is our most powerful tool in bringing about more inclusion in our society.

When many are working from home, now is a handy time to practice this skill. It’s time we listen to others’ experiences and look for ways to move forward together.

Below are 3 simple things you can practice to get better at active listening (These will all work on video calls too 🙂 ).

1. Shut down your internal dialogue while listening:- Try not to think about your reply whilst the other person is speaking, take the time to really listen as you never know, the last thing they say may change the meaning of what has already been said (plus we can’t multitask so thinking of your reply means you’re no longer listening to what is being said)

2. Summarise what has been said:- When the other person stops talking, start off by saying something like “In other words, what you are saying is…”. This shows the speaker you have been listening + it makes sure you really understand what has been said.

3. Show interest by asking questions:- Ask open-ended questions to encourage the speaker. Try to avoid closed yes-or-no questions that tend to shut down the conversation.

Connecting with others is made easier at the moment. Most of us are at home a lot more, with time on our hands and technology at our fingertips. In a way, personally I feel more connected to some people in my network than ever before.

If you want to practice listening, think of someone you haven’t spoken to in some time, give them a call, and ask them what their experience is like right now and listen, you never know, you might be surprised by what you hear.