“A truly wise person uses few words; a person with understanding is even-tempered.”

We speak. We listen. Others speak. Others listen. But when way too many conversations are over there wasn’t a lot of hearing going on and worse, no understanding occurred. To understand is to allow oneself to have some empathy, to consider another person’s feelings, and to give a little of our own point of view to get to a common place. When we hear without these things then we never reach a true level of understanding. And that is why it so often happens that we can all sit in a room, hear the same words and walk out with different understandings. If we could calculate the amount of time and energy that is put out in corporate America in trying to find clarity and understanding, after we thought it was already achieved, the productivity numbers would skyrocket. It’s a simple but hard thing to achieve. So, how to be better at gaining understanding? Don’t be afraid to ask the follow up question. Don’t hold back on asking someone else to repeat back to you their understanding of a situation. And don’t be impatient to taking a few more minutes to assure that everyone is on the same page before they leave the room. By the way, shared understanding the first time around is a real morale booster in a company. If the culture is one where people understand each other all the time, then that bodes well for it being a place where people will want to work.

To get to being an understanding person is to be as Solomon says, “even-tempered”. This makes sense to me. If we are ones to get bothered easily, have a short-fuse, or fly off at the handle, then we certainly are not ones who will take the time to listen to the whole story or to hear out both sides of an argument. Being even-tempered is to be the type of person that others want to be around and who others will bring their challenges and problems. Being even-tempered can create an aura of calm, cool and collected, which will lead to many a question as to why we don’t let our feathers get ruffled. That question is the perfect time to let the other person know that there are other things that are more important than the moment at hand. It is this moment that we can share the larger picture and the faith that we have. It may not always work out that way, but I do know that if we are the type of people who others tip-toe around there won’t be many questions on how we got that way that will allow for our faith to be the good reason. Understand?

Reference: Proverbs 17:27 (New Living Testament)