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Not seeing eye to eye

I was watching the Dog Whisper talking about how to handle aggressive behaviour in dogs, one of his tricks was to walk them together so they were side by side (like a pack) as opposed to eye-balling each other (i.e. rivals).  I thought this was rather interesting because I noticed that walking with someone is a very good way of having a conversation.  I believe that when we move the body, it is easier to move the mind.  Also when we are walking we are engaging a lot of our brain in this activity which allows us more access to our sub-conscious mind.

Normally when we say that we see eye-to-eye we are implying we are in agreement, but when in a counselling situation or when we wish to have a non-threatening conversation we will often sit at an angle to each other rather than face-to-face.  However, despite all this, most office conversations are conducted face-to-face.  Perhaps, if you have a sensitive conversation you need to have with someone in the near future you might consider the value of not seeing eye-to-eye…

“Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.”   Albert Einstein

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This entry was posted on Sunday, November 2nd, 2008 at 18:47 and is filed under Business Change, Hints, Tips & Techniques, Leadership. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Not seeing eye to eye”

  1. peter_r says:
    2 November , 2008 at 21:49

    Hi Richard,

    I love Cesar Milan as the Dog Whisperer. It is one of my favourite programs. I find Cesar inspirational and much of what he does I believe can be used in improving human interaction. I often ask myself, if I was not training/coaching people what else would I do? I guess I would like to emulate his success with dogs and maybe open a Dog Whisperer training franchise in UK!

    I often examine the use of eye contact in my training/coaching sessions with a view to assessing how appropriate eye to eye contact can improve an individual’s chance of success. However, we should all be aware of the over use of eye contact, as this can be viewed as overtly aggressive. In animals excessive eye to eye contact results in physical aggression.

    When in a negotiation situation I always recommend working at slight angles to reduce the tension created when “eyeballing” the other party. I am not sure if that is “seeing eye to eye”, but it can help improve business relationships and aid understanding.

  2. richardderwentcooke says:
    2 November , 2008 at 21:58

    Thanks Peter for this helpful amplificaton.

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