One of the greatest gifts we can give, and this is not hyperbole, is our attention.

In these posts, I’ve written about this in many ways: I’ve written of intention, which focuses our attention, we’ve talked about of the importance of knowing our audience and “the other” as we prepare for communication, we have touched on paying attention and listening, I wrote about “Blue Bathroom Coaching,” which reflects our coachees in a positive light, the Magical Ms. Busching who “gets” every one of her students, and I wrote about my father’s intention to be a “first class noticer.”

This week, we focus on all of those things; we focus on being a great audience so that others may bloom. It is that loving gaze, that absolute belief in us, that rapt attention, that deep engagement, that we emulate.

In order to be a great audience, we must disarm the impulse to…Read on.