Learning to Connect

July 13, 2008 · Filed Under Change, Culture · Comments 

Experience = LearningI’ve been thinking a lot lately. The specifics aren’t relevant to this conversation, but I would venture a guess that if you reading this you 1) Think a lot, and 2) want to think a lot because you like being exposed to new ideas.

I’ve been trying to get better about two things:

  1. Telling stories to interact with the other person(s)
  2. Being empathetic and seeking empathy from the other person(s)

In telling stories, I am finding it easier to connect with people - which is the point of empathy. But you know what I found? To be empathetic to my audience, I have to seek commonality.

This doesn’t mean I have to imitate them, far from it. What is does indicate is that I have to be able to share experiences with people in order to relate. This translates into me living: I must live to have experiences from which I can empathize.

So in order to empathize, I always have to be learning new things. Wow, what a great way to connect to people - through learning!

Image courtesy of Becky Carroll

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

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A New Author at ChangeForge… Please Welcome Jeff Pitney

July 13, 2008 · Filed Under Contributing Authors, State of the Blog · Comments 

I am pleased to announce we have a new contributing author at ChangeForge, Jeff Pitney. I have had the pleasure of working with Jeff on several occasions as both a national accounts manager and as a developer who engineered both workflow process and the core design of an e-commerce site we now use with one of our largest clients.

Jeff Pitney is a long time veteran of the document imaging industry and has worked in both sales and sales management capacities for manufacturers and independent dealers alike. Jeff also runs Pitney Application Design, building websites and custom integrations for web-based solutions.

Please take some time to read his first series, Prospecting Solutions Sales.

For anyone that is interested in becoming a contributing author at ChangeForge, please feel free to contact me.

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

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