In this weeks lesson, we are taught that the key skills to listening are asking, mirroring, and paraphrasing. Our text Crucial Conversations has a fourth key called prime. These skills promote safety and formulate a path to action that avoids silence or violence (Grenny et al., 2021). From childhood, we are taught to listen. Listening does not always equate to hearing. I believe a lot of arguments occur because we fail to actively listen to the other persons argument.

The four skills mentioned are valuable in the conflict resolution process because it shows that you are sincerely acknowledging the person you are speaking to and their concerns. This will aid in relaxing your team member or employee from a place of silence or violence. Speaking from personal experience, it is important for me to feel seen, heard, and respected in any space I occupy but especially the workplace. As I often mentioned through my leadership courses, I am fortunate enough to follow a leader who seeks mutual respect and purpose in his relationship with his colleagues (he does not like to refer to us as his employees or subordinates)!

Do you agree with the writer on the key skills of active listening and how they can help with conflict resolution process? Why or Why not? What other suggestions would you give to the writer?