Words and Pain
Problems are expressed through words, while pain is communicated through emotions. When we fail to listen to words, we miss the opportunity to connect with emotions. If we don't connect with emotions, we fail as human beings.
In a B2C retail
scenario, a customer communicates their problem in just minutes. However, if we
don't take a moment to listen, we risk losing a place in their hearts. The same
principle applies in B2B interactions, where a discussion might take an hour or
so.
Reflect on how many
times you have been disconnected from people who wanted to share their
problems. Unfortunately, due to a preoccupied mind, you may not have understood
their pain. In the process, you not only disappointed someone who trusted you
but also slowly lost your place in their heart.
If a political leader
in the modern world cannot spare a few moments to listen to a child who wishes
to share her pain of losing her parents in an airstrike and her struggle of
going without food for three days, they cease to be a true leader. Instead, they
become just a political broker working for a weapons manufacturing company.
In 1960, Shri K.
Kamaraj, a former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu-India and a freedom fighter,
asked a young boy who was herding sheep, "Why aren’t you going to
school?" The boy replied, "Who will feed me?" This response led
to the creation of a noon meal scheme in the 1960s, which is now regarded as
the world’s largest midday meal program. Kamaraj’s willingness to listen and
connect with the pain of that young boy resulted in increased school
attendance, reduced dropouts, and higher literacy levels in the state.
We are fortunate
enough to have listening ears, but if we are willing to connect with the pain
of others, we can make a difference in their lives and our own.
M.L. Narendra Kumar
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