#275 ears

When a colleague was preparing to become an interim department chair, this is the advice the outgoing chair gave her:  "Most days, what is needed is a big, plastic ear on the desk."  

While his advice may be an exaggeration, I am sure that the sentiment rings true for many occasions.  Often a good supervisor becomes the sounding board -- for venting, for ideas, for problems that work themselves out as they are expressed, for success stories and for personal travails.

Whether you acquire a literal prop from the science department or keep a mental image in your mind, I'll bet your work will be most effective if you heed the advice to do more listening than talking; more asking of questions than answering. 

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
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Thanks to Trudy Cunningham for sharing