BRX Pro Tip: Bill Gates Recommends This Book
Stone Payton: And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor, Stone Payton here with you. Lee, you’ve come across a book that is highly recommended by someone, some of us have heard of a guy by the name of Bill Gates.
Lee Kantor: Yeah, Bill Gates reads tons. And every year, maybe even every few months, he puts out a book list of highly recommended books. And this one was his must-read book of the summer. It’s from David Brooks, who is a New York Times columnist, and he wrote the book How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen. Bill Gates says that this book is a blueprint for a more connected and humane way of living. So here are some of the takeaways.
Lee Kantor: You want to be an illuminator, and an illuminator is a good conversationalist because they are curious and ask questions. The opposite of an illuminator is a diminisher, and you don’t want to be a diminisher. You want to be an illuminator. You want to be curious.
Lee Kantor: Number two, showing empathy by being an active listener. You can do active listening obviously just through your ears, but you also do it through body language and sincere interest. And if you hit a point of disagreement, which a lot of people kind of shy away from, but the key is don’t get defensive when you hit a point of disagreement.
Lee Kantor: In today’s world, that’s so polarizing, it’s important to really just be open and listen. And one of the great kinds of tools to use when you’re talking to somebody who you disagree with is don’t get defensive about it but just ask this question, and this is the key takeaway of all of them for today is, what am I missing here? Just ask them, what am I missing?
Lee Kantor: Instead of trying to defend your position or dismiss their position, just ask what am I missing and have them try to articulate the point maybe a little differently. It’s a lot more effective from a communication standpoint than, you know, just trying to defend your position or arguing their position. Just be open and ask, what am I missing?
