Here's a little reality check from all the digital interaction we've been talking about in this e-course. Once you get sucked in and connected, do you insult the people who matter the most to you?
How many times have you met with someone and their iphone, ipad, or any of the other latest digital devices are more important than connecting visually with you and being focused on you as a person vs. "multi-tasking". How many times have you stood there and ground your teeth while the other person puts you on hold because of a phone call, facebook message, or alert buzzing on their ipad?
I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that multi-tasking is basically disrespect in the presence of other human beings.
Scott Ginsberg published an interesting article on his "Hello - My Name Is Blog" blog titled The Art of Making People Feel Seen. Here's a snippet from the blog:
In the movie Avatar, natives on Pandora greet each other with three words:
“I see you.”
That was my favorite part of the movie. Kind of made me wish human beings were more like the Na’vi people.
The convenience of connectedness comes at a high price. When you divide your attention between the person in front of you and the people you’re giving snippets of your digital attention to, it’s disrespectful, annoying and makes people feel invisible.
Are you really that important? Or are you putting yourself at the beck and call of people you barely even know just to feel needed?
In the book Crazybusy, Dr. Edward Hallowell writes about this very topic. His research proves that each time you introduce a new object of attention into what you’re doing; you dilute your attention on any one object. “Multitasking is usually disrespectful to someone,” he says.
My suggestion: Put down your phone. Honor the audience of one. Listen with your eyes. And when you’re with people, really be with people. Instead of checking your email under the dinner table, make it clear that human beings are more important than technology. People will feel seen.
Remember: Just because you’re instantly connected to the masses doesn’t mean you’re intimately connected to the people who matter. What do people get when they get you?
As you become more and more connected, it requires you to work harder and harder to be focused on the people who matter the most to you. Scott's blog posting was a wake-up call and refresher that even though all this social media stuff is important, it pales in comparison to human interaction and making the person you're with feel like their the most important person to you when you're engaging with them.
Although the article has nothing to do with finding members by leveraging social media, I thought it was so powerful, I couldn't resist sharing it.
To read Scott's full article, please click the link below:
The Art of Making People Feel Seen
Barry Deutsch
