CASE: LISTENING AT DIFFERENT LEVELS
One day, Joe is confronted by the following situations:
Scenario #1: Joe goes to the loading dock and sees Anton “Mr. Opportunity” Knox. He says “good morning” to Anton and asks how he is doing. Anton responds: “Man, not so good. My car was giving me fits again. I’m lucky I got to work at all, let alone a minute or two late. Not that anyone around here cares about my troubles. And, they upped the charges on my cell phone again. How am I supposed to pay for that?”
Scenario #2: Tamiko enters Joe’s office. Joe asks, “How can I help you, Tamiko?” Tamiko appears nervous and shy. She says, “I need to talk with you about something.” Joe responds, “Sure.” Tamiko takes a few moments to collect her thoughts and then says, “Anton made some comments to me. Sally said I should talk with you about it. I’m not so sure I should. Anton probably didn’t mean anything by it. I don’t want to get anyone in trouble.”
Scenario #3: Sally enters Joe’s office later. She does not wait to be greeted and simply blurts out, “Joe, I’m really concerned about the way Fred is dealing with his staff. I think you have a serious problem on your hands. Has Tamiko talked with you? I can’t believe Anton has been saying all those things. But does Fred care? No. He just lets things go on as they are. Joe, I really think you’ve got to do something about it.”
Scenario #4: Joe sees Fred later. “Hey, Fred, is everything okay?” Fred responds, “Yeah, why?” Joe says, “Well, Tamiko and Sally were in my office. They say Anton has been saying some offensive things. Can you tell me what’s going on?” Fred responds, as he ticks off points on his fingers, “Well, first of all, Sally needs to mind her own #!*# business. She’s such a meddler. Second, if Tamiko has a problem, let her tell me instead of running off to Sally. Third, as far as I can tell, Anton has just been doing his job and minding his own business. Jeez, I can’t believe they are making such a scene over a little joke.”
Case Question
In each situation, Joe is challenged to provide the appropriate response to show that he is listening. Consider each of these situations and, for each, discuss the following questions.
What messages is the individual giving through his or her words and actions?