To speak with knowledge or listen with wisdom?

A few days ago I wrote “Presence and asking the right questions” and used this same image of rock balancing.

Today the post title is a riff on a phrase Chip Conley uses in his book Wisdom at Work in encouraging us to listen more and talk less:

“Knowledge talks, Wisdom listens”

For me today my thoughts are around finding balance in when to talk and share knowledge, versus when to listen.

To Do or To Be

Transmit or Receive

Knowledge speaks

Wisdom listens

At the Modern Elder Academy and in Chip Conley’s book “Wisdom at Work” one repeated theme is that, as we enter midlife, we tend to unconsciously be out of balance in that we speak more than we listen, we transmit more than receive, we are doing rather than being so much of the time.

There is a tremendous value, then, in taking time to learn to shift that balance and listen more, receive more, then speak less and speak with more impact when we do, having synthesised what we can bring to the other person once we have deeply listened to them.

For me, this week was, for different and unrelated reasons, a real challenge and opportunity to focus on being present and to deepen my own awareness of…