We can listen to the whole sentence, and already at the beginning of it we have decided what we will answer. The other person is speaking, but we no longer check what they are actually communicating to us.
In business, it easily leads to the wrong solution. We hear a request to change the deadline, but we miss the problem because of which the work cannot be completed. We respond to the tone, instead of the information.
It helps to briefly repeat what we understood and leave room for correction. Listening does not obligate us to accept every proposal. It allows us to make a decision about what the person actually said.
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