Communication is a two-way street.
There are people who think a lot and hear things when you talk to them. They hear a lot of things. They hear everything.
Sometimes they hear and immediately start processing what they heard. They want to make things better and they dive deeply into the inbound words. They do self work, reflection, and start to effectuate change. Sometimes, however, when this is going on something simple is missed: actually acknowledging the points that the person talking to them was making.
It’s not an intentional slight, but failure to acknowledge, and to instead move straight to processing, underrepresents your level of hearing and attention to the one speaking to you. It doesn’t take much to acknowledge what is said to you, even if what is shared hurts, even if it makes you ecstatic, even if it is a catalyst for change.
When communicating, especially when communicating on important topics, the first order of business should be to let your dialogue partner know that the words they’re saying both matter and are heard. This is kind of a big deal because that someone is making a sincere effort to talk to you and validating the receipt of their message prior to acting on it will reinforce that you are paying attention and making an effort.
Recently I fell short on this type of acknowledgment. The topic came up later and I was hopefully able to make amends. I’m writing this blog post to remind me of this in the future. Maybe it reminds you and helps make a difference for you as well.