Third – and perhaps most importantly – it helps build morale by affirming other person’s worth. By reflecting speaker’s words back to him, we demonstrate that we care about what that person has to say. This allows other person to voice his grievances or ideas, and to feel appreciated in process. Even if we reject that person’s ideas completely, he can at least feel appreciated in process.

Of course, you don’t want to reflect someone’s words back every time that person speaks. That would be overkill, and it can sound tremendously insincere. It is enough to simply summarize that person’s ideas now and then, preferably when we think we have a reasonably clear overview of what he has to say.

Reflective listening techniques take very little effort to master, especially if you’re type of person who genuinely does care about others. They are an easy yet powerful way to enhance communication, and they can build stronger work relationships in process.

According to holographic paradigm, we are really "receivers" participating in a kaleidoscopic flow of wondrous frequency, and what we extract from this and translate into physical reality is but one channel from many extracted out of superhologram of universe.

Like a hologram, The Leadership Talk is a totality -- totality of right leadership interactions. And like a holographic totality, each part of a Leadership Talk is whole. Whatever Leadership Talk process you choose, you'll find that it not only permeates all other processes of Talk, it permeates time and space.

(By way, I say "right interactions." Wrong leadership interactions are countless and have mainly to do with order-leadership. The right interactions are triggered by Leadership Talk processes I've taught for 21 years. Those processes have one end in mind: helping leaders achieve not just average results but more results faster continually. Such "superresults" can only be achieved in penetrating human relationships.)

Ralph Waldo Emerson saw this permeation of space/time when he wrote, "There is one mind common to all individual men. Every man is an inlet to same and to all of same.... I believe in Eternity. I can find Greece, Asia, Italy, Spain and Islands -- genius and creative principle of each and of all eras in my own mind."

This idea is not arcane philosophy but most importantly, a practical leadership tool for achieving superresults.

Look at it this way: Leaders do nothing more important than get results. Yet working with thousands of leaders worldwide for past 21 years, I've found that very few are getting results they are capable of.

These leaders look at superficial facets of results, such as information technology, productivity loops, quality programs, human resource activities, speed, productivity, operations efficiencies, sales closes, sales leads, sales to new customers, failure prevention, health and safety advancements, quality, training, quality control, logistics efficiencies, marketing targets, new revenue streams, sales erosion, price calibrations, cost reductions, demand flow activities and technologies, inventory turns, cycle time reductions, materials and parts management, etc. -- stuff taught in business schools.

Sure, these facets are important, and they must be developed and put to use, but without taking into account human-interactions that animate each of facets, leaders stumble. And that's not taught in business schools.

All organizational challenges are ultimately challenges of human relationships. The Leadership Talk enables leaders to get those relationships right; and when they do, right results will follow. The proof may well be found in holographic paradigm.

2005 © The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. All rights reserved.