He was trying to be patient.  I know he was.  I was excited to be at my first duty station and learn my trade.  I had just gotten finished with my apprenticeship training and was, in my opinion, ready to take this new knowledge and take over the world.

Don, my first supervisor, was teaching me how things worked.  He had been in the Navy 15 years and knew his way around.  He was matter of fact, had wiry brown hair, a ’70’s “porn” mustache, and smoked a pipe.  Long story short, he was a salty sailor and I was lucky to have him as a mentor but there was a problem.

Every time Don was explaining how to do something, I would jump in and start explaining how I learned it in apprenticeship school.   My excitement caused me to interrupt, derail the training, and lengthen the time it took to get the task done.  This went on for a few days.  Like I said, Don was more than patient.  Finally, I interrupted one too many times and he said, “Seaman Lutz, you’re starting to piss me off!  I don’t care how you learned it, I’m showing you how it really is.  Shut up and listen!”

Shut up and listen!  How many times have I needed to hear this in my life!  I’m a crappy listener.  I always have been (my ex-wife will attest to the same). When I’ve got a preconceived notion about how something is or I’ve got “shiny objects” I’m thinking about,  it keeps me from really listening to the person I’m with.

Don’s words caught me off guard but I did shut up and started listening.  You know what?  I started learning.  Don taught me how things really worked and set me up for success.  Self assess your listening.  Don’t ask yourself.  You will lie to you.  I lie to me all the time (tell me I look good in things I don’t and that donuts have no calories).  Ask someone else of an honest assessment of how you are as a listener.  Then, shut up and listen.  If they tell you that you need to work on it, shut up and listen some more.

My mind still goes all over most of the time.  If I’m excited about something, I usually can’t wait to tell someone about it.  However, I do remind myself of that day and the words of wisdom I got from my first mentor, Don.  Learning to “shut up and listen” can never take you in a bad direction.  Shut up today!