Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Communication Case #2 - the Mind Reader

More Adventures of the Pseudo-Listening Manager


In this week's episode of the Pseudo-Listening manager, Stanley Partial, is experiencing his clairvoyant capabilities - mind reading. The mind reader is someone who is busy trying to figure out what the person is REALLY thinking and trying to say but just not verbally expressing themselves.

At the conference, Stanley encounters a previous employee who left the company over a year ago for a managerial opportunity at another firm. While exchanging pleasantries, Stanley was really thinking that this guy left the company because he didn't like the staff and wasn't happy with the company. He was thinking this guy would have taken a job at a fast food restaurant just to get away from his co-workers.

Mind reading notions stem from hunches or vague misunderstandings, and have very little to do with what the person is actually saying. This type of listening barrier impeded Stanley from effectively communicating with his past colleague because of his false interpretations which could have very well been incorrect.

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