Archive for January, 2011
Intelligence about Assessment Instruments
On January 26, 2011 I participated in an excellent webinar conducted by Ann Herrmann Nehdi on the topic of Assessment Instruments. Ann is CEO of Herrmann International, the company that provides the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI). She was joined by very knowledgeable guest panelists.
The panelists had so many superb points to make that I don’t feel it appropriate to repeat everything they presented. Thus, I’m going to select some highlights:
Overall for all panelists:
- A variety of instruments are best used to provide a total picture because no one instrument can capture the complexity of human behavior.
- An assessment instrument is personalized and can lead to self-discovery.
- Assessment instruments are levers for personal growth
From the presentation of Tom Boldrey, Professor Emeritus from Eastern Illinois University:
Factors to determine instrument(s) selection:
- Purpose of engagement—what does the client want to achieve?
- Client request—what needs does the client articulate?
- Scope and length of the engagement—where does the instrument fit in?
- Participant readiness—is the client open to learn from the instrument?
- Situational context—what’s going on in the person/organization that the instrument might highlight or explain?
He went on to relate Dr. Carl Jung’s Psychological Type Theory to the development of the MBTI, its inter-relationship to the HBDI, and to other assessments. Some of Dr. Jung’s crucial considerations for all assessment instruments:
- Preferences are innate; that is, we have inborn predispositions
- Predispositions are influenced by experiences
- Preferences are used in varying degrees
- Life provides opportunities to develop
Of course, while I was rapt in attention by his presentation, I thought about the application to my own instrument, Hear! Hear? Your Listening Portfolioâ. It exemplifies all of Drs. Jung’s and Boldrey’s points. Hear! Hear? is descriptive, not prescriptive; does not label the taker; supports and complements other assessments; has high face validity (just ask anyone who’s taken it); and is immediately actionable.
If you’d like to now more about the HBDI or more about the webinar presentations, go to www.hbdi.com
The Power of Listening
I came across this blog in my research and thought it worthy of sharing with you. Please honor Mathew’s copyright privileges.
Marian
The Power of Listening
We tend to listen (think) four times faster than we can talk. You’d think that was good, but actually it’s not, because our minds get bored and wander off.
Staying focused on someone else’s thoughts is tough, especially if the other person is anything less than a scintillating speaker. And few of us are.
But there’s nothing more powerful in the communications world than a skillful listener. We’ve all heard the old statistic about forgetting half of everything we’ve heard within 48 hours, and most of the rest within several days.
My suspicion is in today’s over-communicated world, the numbers are even worse. Sometimes I can’t even remember the sponsor of a favorite TV commercial minutes after it ran.
I was cleaning out some old reference files the other day, and came across a program developed by Sperry Corporation in the early 80s for its employees. More than 40,000 Sperry employees received the training over a 5-year period.
The program was developed by listening expert Lyman Stiel, a former associate of Ralph Nichols at the University of Minnesota. Nichols is generally regarded as “the father of listening” and Stiel is no slouch.
According to the Sperry program, here are ten keys to effective listening:
1. Find areas of interest – Don’t tune out dry subjects, ask “What’s in it for me?”
2. Judge content, not delivery – Don’t be distracted by poor delivery, look for the meat.
3. Hold your fire – Wait until you have received the whole message, ensure comprehension.
4. Listen for ideas – Get beyond the facts, listen for central themes and basic ideas.
5. Be flexible – Take fewer notes and concentrate more on the speaker and his/her message.
6. Work at listening – Relax and listen actively with facial movements, shakes or nods.
7. Resist distractions –This is for you cell phone junkies and laptop addicts. Put those away.
8. Exercise your mind – Use the speaker’s heavier content to stretch your mind. Dig in, don’t tune out.
9. Keep your mind open – Don’t get hung up on certain words, especially emotional ones.
10. Thought is faster than speech – Use that to your advantage: anticipate, summarize, weigh the evidence, and look between the lines.
The Sperry program was not intended to create “expert” listeners. They only professed to appreciate the importance of listening better, and they took the extra step of equipping their employees with specialized training.
Posted by Mathew Anthony (Parokkaran) at Thursday, January 20, 2011.
Research Implications for Listening
This post is going to abstract some of the very intriguing current research that may have implications for listening:
Music Makes Us Happy:
Results indicate that intense pleasure in response to music can lead to dopamine release in the striatal system. Notably, the anticipation of an abstract reward can result in dopamine release in an anatomical pathway distinct from that associated with the peak pleasure itself.
Nature Neuroscience (2011) doi:10.1038/nn.2726
Received 07 October 2010 Accepted 25 November 2010 Published online 09 January 2011
Implications for listening:
This research demonstrates that music makes people happy. When we are happy we tend to be open and responsive. Listening depends upon an open brain and attitude. So, if you feel your attention waning, try music to re-engage your mind and spirit.
Third Order Listening:
In his book The Management Myth, Matthew Stewart describes the listening style of one quite brilliant consultant as follows:
He does not focus on what you are saying. Rather, he tries to figure out what you want to get by saying it. And then he tries to figure out why you think you want what you want. And then he tries to figure out what he can do about the things that make you think you want it.
How often do you try to figure out what the other person wants by paying attention to the words he uses and the number of times he repeats something?
The Listening Club:
The Listening Club, a burgeoning Harvard organization, is now seeking members at Harvard. Members will cultivate and hone vanguard listening skills in both subjective and objective contexts; form a vital resource body of listeners performing campus and broader community service; research listening in applied fields of study; and invite active collaboration with other Harvard entities to both liaise with the club and partner on special listening events and activities.
Harvard Gazette, Janaury 13, 2011
FYI, I’ve contacted the founder.
Brain Regions:
Theprefrontal cortex is this brain region where the juggling act occurs. This area is important in planning complex cognitive behaviors, personality expression, decision making and moderating correct social behavior.
Yet in order to accomplish tasks and make decisions–otherwise known as executive functions–the brain tends to filter out new generative impulses and stimuli that are deemed as incongruent or interfering with the focus of our attention.
Executive function is key to higher level analysis and critical thinking. It relates to abilities to differentiate among conflicting thoughts, determine good and bad, better and best, same and different, future consequences of current activities, working toward a defined goal, prediction of outcomes, expectation based on actions, and social “control” (the ability to suppress urges that, if not suppressed, could lead to socially-unacceptable outcomes).
From The Center for Graphic Illustration
Implications for Listening:
We have to be in control of our prefrontal cortex when we listen or be at its mercy.
More to Come. I enjoy sharing my learning with the listening community, and appreciate it when you chime in.
Habits and Traits Show up Everywhere, Including Blogs
Today I read some very interesting research results.
Basically, the researcher says that it is possible to tell personality traits from the words used when writing blogs. Following is the information, followed by my additional thoughts:
Posts about dancing, drinking and restaurants could hint you’re an extrovert
Newly released findings from Tal Yarkoni, a CU psychology and neuroscience postdoctoral fellow, also debunk the idea that people can maintain distinctly different offline and online personalities.
“Our personalities don’t dramatically change just because we’ve turned on our computers,” he said. The research was published in the Journal of Research in Personality
Top five words used by personality traits:
1. Neurotic (sensitive and nervous): “Awful,” “though [sic],” “lazy,” “worse” and “depressing.”
2. Extroverted (outgoing and energetic): “Bar,” “other,” “drinks,” “restaurant” and “dancing.”
3. Open (inventive and curious): “folk,” “humans,” “of,” “poet” and “art.”
4. Agreeable (friendly and compassionate): “wonderful,” “together,” “visiting,” “morning” and “spring.”
5. Conscientious (organized and efficient): “completed,” “adventure,” “stupid,” “boring” and “adventures.”
Source: University of Colorado
Read more:
CU-Boulder study: Word choice in blogs reveals personality traits – Boulder Daily Camera, http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_17060109#ixzz1AksZExXv; DailyCamera.com. By Brittany Anas Camera StaffWriter, Posted: 01/10/2011 08:04:29 PM MST
While I would never try to conduct the same kind of research for listening, I found Dr. Yarkoni’s thesis to validate our work on listening habits.
- We do have preferences
- Preferences become habits that we rely upon
- Language signals habit
- We tend to stick to habits even when the context changes
- We’re often clueless about our habits
- Learning how we come across can provide us with greater control over how we are perceived
Updates on Listening
Spring doesn’t seem to be in the air, but listening is. Two important institutions have put their good reputations behind our work.
The International Coaches Federation has granted us permission to award Continuing Education credits to their members who become Certified Practitioners of Hear! Hear? Your Listening Portfolio©.
The Forum Corporation, one of the largest global training and consulting firms, has signed us on as a strategic partner. That means their sales professionals will include our listening suite of offerings in their conversations with potential and existing clients.
To reiterate, the suite of offerings is:
- Hear! Hear? Your Listening Portfolio©, an online instrument that assesses listening habits.
- Practitioner Certification, that enables a coach to use Hear! Hear? Your Listening Portfolio© with clients.
- Tune Up Your Listening is a two-part webinar series. Webinar #1 focuses on participant results from Hear! Hear? Your Listening Portfolio© and addresses: creating and living with habitual listening preferences; understanding their strengths and challenges; and observing physical, emotional and verbal behaviors that signal someone’s listening habits. Webinar #2 builds upon the results of the assessment and addresses: learning tactics that build listening flexibility; practicing skills to improve listening; and understanding the science as well as the art of true listening.
- The Fluent Listener is a six-hour, highly-interactive workshop. It addresses the real intention of listening: making meaning. The workshop focuses on harnessing and building attention, understanding the implications of the results from Hear! Hear? Your Listening Portfolio©, developing tactics to manage the participants’ inner listening triggers, and building skills to develop the ability to listen fluently according to the needs of the situation.
We’re very excited about every opportunity that comes our way. We’d love your suggestions, contacts, and questions.
Some advice please. I’m going to write a series of listening tips for specific populations, e.g Listening Tips for Salespeople, and Healthcare providers, and Financial Planners, etc. What professions should I include? How many separate professions should I address? How many tips per population? Other ideas?