Why is mindful listening so difficult?

·     Bias: There is a thin line between judgement, experience and bias, which is why bias is one of the most difficult aspects to detect and deal with. Bias can include bias towards the speaker, situation, organization, idea of the kind of dialogue, bias towards the medium, such as a meeting, conference call etc. Bias closes the mind to the variety of possibilities that can be explored. Ironically, it’s also because of bias that we let our minds wander out of a certain situation or conversation.

Impatience: The pace of thinking of each individual is different and so is the rate of speech. Some like to rush their thoughts out even before they are completely conceived and comprehended, while others can’t even let out a sigh until they have formulated the entire sentence with the precise choice of vocabulary. As efficient listeners, we have to respect this difference and show patience, allowing them the required time to formulate their thoughts and vocalize it as. The temptation to complete somebody else's sentence may sometimes be so compelling, but we need to ensure we don’t succumb to it.

Jumping to conclusions: More often than not, we try to preempt the direction of a dialogue and what the conclusion could be. It is likely that we get so engrossed in this conclusion that we may start steering all conversation in this direction, completely missing out on the possibilities that could have been explored by an, otherwise, open mind.