“Most people do not listen in order to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” (Steven R. Covey)

My mentor Bill took an interest in people. While many people enter a room with a mentality that says, “Here I am!”, Bill seemed to always enter by finding you and claiming, “There you are!” And then he would proceed to ask you more and more questions about…you. He was always interested in others. You could ask him about his health, and he would give an honest answer, but then shrug it off. He really wanted to know more about you.

More and more, I am finding this to be among the most attractive qualities about a person, old or young, big or small. When a person is able to shut out the surroundings and pay close attention to you, it leaves you feeling valued. When that person then listens to you, without any agenda other than getting to know you better, you feel an attraction to that person.

Unfortunately, there are not enough Bills in the world. What most of us usually experience in our conversations is not a genuine interest in one another, but rather a competition to see who has the most interesting thing to say, or who lives the more interesting life.