Take my dog, for example. The moment he sees you he gives you his full attention, zeroing in on your body language and facial expressions. He takes in every word you say, his head tilted and ears back as if you’re the most important person in the world.If you’re anything like me, this immediately makes you feel calmer, more focused, and appreciated.

Unfortunately in today’s world, which seems to grow more hurried and stressful every year, we rarely receive this kind of undivided attention from our human peers. When was the last time you stopped and truly listened — without checking your phone, zoning out, or interrupting — to what an employee or coworker had to say?

I’ve been guilty of this. When I became chief executive of the not-for-profit American Pet Products Association (APPA), it took me awhile to adjust to the culture. I was coming from a for-profit company, where the work environment was very different.

Early on, a senior manager met with me to discuss a problem she was having: one of our larger members was having a problem with their insurance supplier. Before she had finished explaining, I advised her to tell the company its insurance issue wasn’t ours to solve. What I failed to understand is that, as is often the case with not-for-profits, the insurance company in question was one we had recommended and endorsed. Without realizing it, I was backing my manager into a corner with the member company.

She approached me a few additional times for more constructive feedback, but I never really listened. After that I noticed a definite change in her performance and behavior. Eventually I discovered she was actively looking for another job. Only then did I stop to consider that despite meeting with her on multiple occasions, I still didn’t understand why she was so frustrated. And so I had her sit down with me one more time. But this time instead of talking, I listened attentively. It took a few moments before she felt comfortable enough to open up, but, eventually, she did. Together, we worked on a solution, eventually meeting with the insurance vendor to address the company’s concerns.

She is still part of the team here and, in fact, has moved to an executive position.

In many parts of my professional life– and life in general — persuasion is important. As chief executive and president of the APPA, part of my job entails reaching out to leaders across the pet industry so we can form a coalition that supports and promotes pet ownership and care. This means I work with a lot of powerful executives who are used to running their own organizations, and have their own management styles. My job is to get all these people to work together on projects from opposing puppy mills, to raising awareness of the health benefits owners reap from having a pet.

But persuasion means listening. I’ve learned that when working with a new group of people, swooping in with orders and demands rarely works. Instead, I take a page from my golden retriever’s book: I start by listening to what they have to say.

If it sounds simple, that’s because it is. At the end of the day, all I’m doing is following my dog’s lead.

以我的狗为例。它看到你的那一刻，就会给你全部的关注，留意你的肢体语言和面部表情。它会领会你说的每个字，头歪着，耳朵向后贴，仿佛你是世界上最重要的人。如果你像我一样，就会觉得这让你立刻变得更加平静、更加专注、更加感激。

不幸的是，在当今世界，人们越来越匆忙，压力越来越大，很难再从同类那里获得这种全心全意的关注了。你上一次停下手头的工作，专心听员工或同事说话，而没有看手机、开小差或打断，是什么时候的事情了？

我对此感到内疚。我成为非营利组织美国宠物产品协会（American Pet Products Association, APPA）的董事长后，花了一些时间来适应这里的文化。我来自一家为了盈利的公司，工作氛围与这里截然不同。

早些时候，一个高级经理来找我，讨论她遇到的问题：我们一个较大的会员与保险供应商之间出现了问题。还没等她说完，我就建议她告诉公司，保险问题不由我们负责解决。而我没有理解的，也是非营利机构常出现的情况是，出问题的保险公司是我们推荐和认可的。没有意识到这一点，我就把我的经理和会员公司逼到了墙角。

她又找了我几次，寻求更有建设性的建议，但我从来不听。之后，我发现她的表现和行为明显有了变化。终于，我发现她正在积极寻找其他工作。直到那时，我才意识到尽管见过她很多次，我仍然不理解她为何这么沮丧。所以，我请她和我再谈一次。这一次，我不再说话，而是专心倾听。她花了一些时间才安下心来敞开话匣子，不过她终究还是说了。我们一起寻找解决方案，并与保险供应商会面，处理公司关注的问题。

她仍然留在我们的团队，并升到了主管的岗位上。

在我的职业生涯，乃至人生的许多时候，劝导都是重要的技巧。作为美国宠物产品协会的董事长和总裁，我的工作职责之一就是接触宠物行业的各个领袖，组成联盟，支持和促进宠物的饲养与关爱。这意味着我要与许多实力强大、经营过自己公司、有着自己管理风格的高管们共事。我的任务就是让所有这些人联合起来，共同为某些议题努力，例如反对幼犬滥育，或是让饲主意识到饲养宠物有益身心健康。

但是劝导意味着倾听。我发现，当与新的群体合作时，发号施令没有什么作用。相反，我从自己的金毛猎犬那里学到了一点：听听他们有什么想说的。

这听起来很简单，因为这本来就很简单。总而言之，我做的只是听从我的宠物狗的指引。（财富中文网）

译者：严匡正