How to Find and Keep the Best People 1

There's only one thing you need to find and keep the best people. It's the ability to listen well. No, I mean really well.

If you listen really well, people will tell you almost anything you want to know. They can’t help it.

I am still learning how to do this. I don’t do it as well as I’d like. But I knew a man who listened really well. This is how he did it.

Whenever I would go to talk to him, he would stop doing anything else. He would turn toward me. His face and body would relax. He would look me in the eye and smile, motioning for me to take a seat. Then he would look down and wait for me to speak, with the fingertips of his hands pressed together in front of him, absolutely still.

When I started talking, he would look up again and watch me intently. He would listen the whole time I was talking. When I stopped talking, he would repeat it back to me. He would say it the way I meant it, checking with me to see if he had it exactly, not changing it or turning it into something else. “Hmmm,” he would say, “I see what you mean.” He would think about it silently then.