Listening Hard Enough
July 1, 2009, posted by Jeff, under The Practicing Church | | 1 Comment
I’ve learned that people usually tell you the truth if you listen hard enough. If you don’t, you’ll hear what they think you want to hear.
- Jacqueline Novogratz, author of The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World
My friend Al Doyle recommended this book to me. Al doesn’t usually recommend books so I got this one as soon as possible but when I read it I thought “Wow. Listening is at the heart of all that Ms. Novogratz, founder of the Acumen Fund, is talking about.”
I highly recommend the book, and I’ll leave you with her full quote:
I’ve learned that people usually tell you the truth if you listen hard enough. If you don’t, you’ll hear what they think you want to hear.
I’ve learned that there is no currency like trust and no catalyst like hope. There is nothing worse for building relationships than pandering, on one hand, or preaching, on the other. And the most important quality we must all strengthen in ourselves is that of deep human empathy, for that will provide the most hope of all – and the foundation for our collective survival.
I’ve learned that generosity is far easier than justice and that, in the highly distorted markets of the poor, it is all too easy to veer only toward the charitable, to have low – or no – expectations for low-income people. This does nothing but reaffirm prejudices on all sides.
I’ve learned how profoundly the world is interconnected in a single economy linking all parts of the globe. Extraordinary wealth has been generated by this global economy and millions of people have been lifted out of poverty. Yet it brings as much danger as hope unless and until every single one of us gets a fair chance to participate.
I’ve learned all this through the extraordinary people I have had the privilege to know, the colleagues with whom I have worked, my fellow travelers, and the family and friends I have loved. One of my favorite lines from Tennyson’s “Ulysses” is “I am part of all that I have met.” And they – every one of them, good and bad – are a part of me.
wisdom from the street