The podcast world is allowing many of us to hear from a lot of different people, with many different backgrounds and very different outlooks. Some of the people you hear from are famous, others not so much, but the information they are sharing is priceless.
I listened to Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers quarterback, on a podcast called “10 Questions with Kyle Brandt” and the conversation really made me reflect on something that I feel like I failed miserably at when I was a coach.
Over the course of my career, I’ve learned a lot. I talk often about how I wish I knew then what I know now. Well, one of the most important lessons that I have learned way too late in my coaching career was to be a better listener.
For the majority of my life, I never really listened to what someone was saying to me. All I was doing was waiting for my turn to talk. and often, cutting the other person off so I could speak sooner! Listening is something that I am really working on becoming better at, I promise!
So Rodgers made a point that really hit home. To be a better listener you have to be silent. Silent in your voice and more importantly, silent in your mind so that what the other person is saying can get in. He also pointed out that the word “silent” and the word “listen” share the same six letters. Kind of profound for a quarterback, don’t you think.
Well now you know why listening to podcasts is a good thing!