I think the one lesson I have learned is that
there is no substitute for paying attention
-Diane Sawyer

Imagine how much professional interviewers learn every time they sit down and do nothing but ask questions and pay attention to the responses given. If you believe that the answers to most of your questions reside in the heads of others, you are well on your way to the top. Because once you realize that, you will ask more questions, listen more attentively and pay attention to the knowledge being delivered.

So here is your task over the next seven days:

•    In every conversation, seek to LEARN something new
•    Ask more questions in EVERY conversation
•    Make these questions open-ended like great interviewers (How, What, When, Why, Who)
•    Don’t think about your response until the other person has finished their last word
•    Don’t feel the need to develop a counterpoint to what is being said

By doing this over the next seven days, you WILL be smarter. Keep doing it and you will have developed the skill that separates great interviewers, great leaders, great salespeople, great parents, and great friends from the average. And by doing so, everybody around you will pay attention to how much smarter you have become, how much more you care, and how effective you have become at positively influencing everybody you touch.