ABSTRACT
Fundamental to communication is the act of closing the loop. This considers the top-down and bottom-up nature of communication meeting in a fashion consistent with creating a state of stability; committed to moving people to action. Communication also demands people seek to understand before being understood and relies on listening and speaking in a spirit to gain shared meaning and understanding. By listening, that means active listening with the primary emphasis on understanding. Too often our ability to listen is challenged by our simultaneously forming a response to what we are hearing. Multi-tasking is not possible. It only complicates exchange. The ancients such as Plato provide time-tested lessons in classical stories such as the Allegory of the Cave. Learning how to structure and present a narrative will build and master a skill for winning the hearts and minds of followers. Perhaps one of the worst possible deterrents to communication lies in the abstractions and an ineffective attention on the rational rather than the emotional, where people are more effectively moved to action.
