“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”
This quote is by Winston Churchill. Churchill was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who lived from 1874 to 1965. He also served two terms as Prime Minister, the first one during World War II.
I think many people would agree that it takes courage to stand up and speak. This is true whether speaking at some type of public forum, at a work meeting, or for certain personal conversations. This is especially true when we know that the people we will be speaking to might not agree with what we need to say. And it requires even more courage when those people are people we care about and whose opinions and values usually align with ours, and that by speaking we risk straining or possibly losing their friendship.
The idea of sitting down and listening, on the other hand, most likely isn’t something that many of us would think of as requiring courage. And yet, if we think about what is involved in genuine listening, it does. It takes a certain amount of courage, for example, to be willing to recognize that we sometimes are set in our ways and when that’s the case we are not open to ideas we hadn’t considered previously. And it takes courage to consider them. That doesn’t mean we should automatically accept views that differ from ours, but rather to not reject them without putting some thought into them.
It also takes a certain amount of courage to listen to criticism and to be open to the possibility of making changes based on constructive criticism we receive.
What matters is acknowledging the importance of listening and making an effort to try to understand where the other person is coming from. We do this by giving them our full attention and, when needed, asking clarifying questions. And we do this by being respectful and nonjudgmental.
Churchill’s words remind us that both our speaking as well as our ability to sincerely listen matter. And that all of us should strive to do both well and, when necessary, to do them with courage.