They say Listening is one of the important skill of communication, but most of us barely pay attention to this, we talk more than we listening. Some of us listen for the wrong motive, and it's just to make unreasonable arguments, we don't take our time to understand what we are listening before reacting.
Always listen to understand. Not to reply or respond. When you listen to respond, you win arguments. When you listen to understand, you win influence. And influence is the key to wraith and power. Understand people and they will give you the power to influence them.
When you learn how to always give a listening ear to others and try to understand what they are saying before responding, then you will really be a great influence to others. No one wants to be around someone who always cares about his own opinion and does not want to understand what the next person is saying.
Always listen to understand.