The Difference between being listen to and being heard

Or this is how my mind sorts it out.

Listening can be very passive. Someone can be listening to another person but not really hearing them.

To be heard is to have acknowledgement of what was said is being thought on by the other party.

Back in my stage management days, I was known for my ability to hear what people were trying to tell me. It helped with some difficult directors and actors along the way. In fact there were several that, because they were in the production, I was hired because I worked well with them.

I discovered early in my career that some of those behaviors that made them a handful had to do with the fact that they didn’t think they were being heard. Because of their reputation, they were being dismissed out of hand because they were ‘a problem’. I, on the other hand, would listen very carefully at what they were saying and ask questions along the way that let them know I was paying attention to what they were saying and was not dismissing their issue.

People like to know they have been heard and what they said was taken seriously rather than dismissed out of hand.

I am grateful when I know I have been heard.