Today’s letter
for the AtoZ Blogging Challenge is ‘O’ for my theme ‘A to Z of Effectiveness’.
You can read more about my theme here. I’m also participating in the NaBloPoMo
for April.
Source |
Openness isn’t something that I’ve heard or read about too much, but
Stephen Covey puts a lot of emphasis on it. He mentions it in several
situations in his book, ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’. For more
clarity, here’s the dictionary definition of the word: “Affording unobstructed entrance
and exit; not shut or closed”.
Stephen Covey’s main focus on openness is in relation to trust. Going
by the definition, openness is when someone offers another person access to his
heart and soul, and is free with his feelings. The book considers empathic
listening a very important part of communication, and for this a certain level
of openness is required between the speaker and the listener for effective
communication.
But openness also translates into vulnerability, and you put yourself
at risk when you open up in this manner. But Mr. Covey asks us to consider
the benefits of openness instead, which can improve relationships and promote a
good level of interdependence.
There’s another facet to openness too – that of adventure. When you free
yourself from restrictive thoughts and open yourself up to the world, you find
that there are many opportunities you hadn’t considered before. When your mind is
open, there’s nothing holding you back from moving forward and having the adventure
of a lifetime!!
Are
you completely open when communicating with someone? Or do you hold yourself
back due to some reason?
3 comments
Great thoughts in this blog. In another way, we can become like a scientist, disregarding previous suppositions, and instead allowing our mind to find new truths.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great way to think - like a scientist!! True, an approach like that can lead us to places we didn't know existed!
DeleteI hope you're enjoying the challenge as much as I am.
ReplyDelete