This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

Most of us involved in management of anything – for me, a lobbying and public relations firm for 25 years – have heard about the value of listening.

But, to put a point on it, many of us still fall victim to the tendency to talk first and listen later.

I remember the way a former business partner of mine put it to emphasize the point:  God gave you two ears and one mouth, so spend twice as much time listening as talking.

Writing in the New York Times, veteran reporter (see below), Thomas L. Friedman, made the same point this way:

“One of my writing techniques has always been to employ metaphors to explain complex issues.  In a blog post last week, I explained the behavior of the United States, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others by arguing that the way they operate in certain situations mirrors that of particular species.

“Some readers from the region and elsewhere found it illuminating and told me so.  Other readers, including respected colleagues, didn’t, and told me that any use of animal or insect species to describe people or discuss the highly charged issue of the Israeli-Hamas war is dehumanizing and unhelpful.  They cited instances in which such analogies have been used as racist tropes.”

“My goal, ”Friedman adds, “is always to provide insight into this area of the world and its peoples, whom I care deeply about.  And that means always listening to the criticism, as well as the praise.”

Covering the Middle East for almost 45 years, Friedman says “the most useful lesson was to try to be a good listener.”

“Because two things happen when I listen:  One is that I learn when I listen.  But much more important is what you say when you listen.  That’s because listening is a sign of respect.

“I found over the years that it was amazing what people would let me say to them, write about them or ask them about — if they thought that I respected them.  And if they thought that I didn’t respect them, I could not tell them the sky was blue.  And the way they perceived respect, first and foremost, was if you listened — not just waited for them to stop talking — but deep listening.”

I can mimic Friedman based on my years in the lobbying business.

On my rounds every day at the Capitol in Salem, Oregon, or around Oregon between legislative sessions, I tried to emphasize listening.  And, like Friedman, I always learned something by using my two ears more than my one mouth.  And, listening enabled me to achieve results for clients.

So, in business or in everyday life, practice this skill – listening.  It will pay off.

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As for Friedman, he became the New York Times foreign affairs opinion columnist in 1995.  He joined the newspaper in 1981, after which he served as the Beirut bureau chief in 1982, Jerusalem bureau chief in 1984, in Washington as the diplomatic correspondent in 1989, and later served as the White House correspondent, and economic correspondent.  His experience serves to underscore the value of listening.