What do listening, being a librarian, and empathy have to do with each other? They’re all related to communication.

Listening

This week I had a first mentoring meeting with a new staff member, and one of the activities was an overview of communication. Since doctors and statisticians naturally speak different languages, and most doctors spend minimal time learning statistics but statisticians work with medical data all of the time, it behooves a statistician to become medically fluent.

We talked about how communication starts off with listening. That the next step includes reflective language, letting the other side know what we heard. But while most people stop there, I finished off with then making sure I get that feedback, A -> B -> A -> B, to close that double loop, that we all agree.

Empathy

I’m also listening to the Alan Alda communication book this week, “If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face?”, in Alda’s distinctive voice through the SELCO audiobook collection. He points out that empathy is a key component of listening. Empathy in this case is learning to recognize what the other person is thinking, getting into the mind of another person. With empathy, we can gain a deeper understanding of someone else’s needs. Empathy activated by photos of ourselves, digitally aged, can motivate us to save more for our future. Empathy can cause people to be more involved in the fight against climate change [1, 2, 3], to meet the future needs of ourselves and the other plants and animals that share the Earth with us.

Librarians

Later in the introduction, I pointed out that my mentoring role includes being my new mentee’s librarian – connecting them with all of the resources that they may not know exist, and resources they may not even know they need. They brightened, “I love librarians!”. Good, we’re off to a great start.

What happens if you put all of those skills together?

With all of my training and experience as an educator, it’s not just second nature to me to listen. There’s also that second step, of conveying back what I think I heard, or what I think I should have heard based on empathy. Integrated into that step is providing resources that I think will address the need. And that third step, of watching what happens next as words or actions, to prove whether what was understood was what I was trying to convey, if the resources I provided met the need.

How about you?

You deserve someone who will truly listen, hear you with empathy, and serve as your librarian. Have you found that person yet?