The power of listening

The list of physician dissatisfiers--complaining patients, disgruntled employees, the egos of other physicians, and more government regulations and control--continues to increase. There is a common thread among many of these dissatisfiers. They involve relationships with people and organizational cooperation, or the lack of it. Communication problems are targeted as the source of much of the organizational heartburn. In many cases, the real problem is that there is too much talking and too little listening.