What To Do When They Won’t Listen

She won’t listen!

Christine was in a new business partnership with 2 others in Arizona.  She lived in Portland, and was stressed about this partnership.  Her partner in Arizona took on more much responsibility than she could reasonably do, and important procedures were missed and not attended to.  Christine tried to persuade her that she could do the accounting, and that they needed to have an overarching plan about how to distribute responsibilities.  But her business partner was too mired in what she was doing to listen.    She was stressed and frustrated by the potential consequences of what she foresaw happening with the business.   She needed to be heard and valued, but she was starting to worry that regardless of what she did or said, her partner wouldn’t listen.

We talked about how to get her needs met.

I told her to lead the discussion out of concern for her partner’s well being, and the success of the company and partnership.   In other words, focus on the how her suggestions would improve her business partner’s needs.    I also told her that if her other partner agreed with her, to ask him to support her efforts.

Our energy matters

Now while she could take my advice, the energy of how we say things determines whether we are taken seriously.  If we say things with the viewpoint that we won’t be heard, and that we have to plead for what we want, we will have a harder time getting heard.  If we walk into a conversation with confidence that “Yes, I will be heard and taken seriously.”, then others will hear us.

As a woman, embracing our inner masculine will help when people won’t listen.  Men’s deeper voices and larger physique make it easier for them to command a room.    We can embody our power by speaking from our gut (as oppose to our chest), planting our feet firmly into the ground and standing tall with our shoulders down and away from our ears.

We then cleared barriers for her to speak to her partner in a way that she could be heard.

Success!

She came back to me the following week with good news!  The conversation went well!   She was now feeling heard by her partner and shifts were happening to make the business operations run more smoothly!  Plus she used her new found voice to effectively express herself to her ex-husband who she felt wasn’t being straight with her!

My client said that she felt so much lighter, and empowered!   She was visibly happier!

As a person that has struggled most of my life to be heard, I was delighted by her success.   I had a lot more that I needed to address to step into my own power, my transformation happened gradually. It was great to see how quickly her life changed!

There are so many smart and capable women and minorities that struggle with being heard, especially in the work place.  I know!   I was one of them!    If you know someone that has an important message that needs to be heard, and feeling like no-one is listening, please share this article.   You can use the social media buttons to send them this article to let them know what is possible!  Let them know I offer a complimentary consultation!