Aug. 20, 2010: Listening is more than just communication, by Kayla Sicard

When I was younger, I was taught to listen to people while they talked to you and to never raise your voice. I still keep this lesson with me today. People don’t realize how much sitting down and listening to someone talk can really help. Listening — and then talking situations out — has three major benefits: It teaches you to grow as a person, it allows people to become better leaders and it shows others how much a person can care.

Listening has a major impact on how a person matures throughout life. It allows you to better communicate possible solutions to varying problems, and to more effectively help someone in need. You can avoid possible obstacles or misunderstandings by simply listening to others.

Listening also plays a role in leadership skills.

Leaders not only provide help to others through action; they also help by just being there and listening. Paying attention is what helps to make leaders successful. By carefully listening to the issues, a leader can more effectively find a solution that would benefit the people involved.  Without listening to the people, a leader would not be respected and would not be in charge for very long.

Simply by listening, you can show compassion and understanding and the willingness to sit and let someone talk.

Conflicts can easily be avoided by listening to other parties involved.  If you simply understand every aspect of a situation, you can avoid heated arguments and unwanted fights.

People go by everyday not realizing that they could make an impact with one simple action. Stop and pay attention to those around and you never know what opportunities could arise from the simple act of listening.

— Kayla Sicard is a 2010 graduate of Concordia High School. She is the daughter of Rex and Diane Sicard.