Breaking into the Corporate World: One Speech Pathologist’s Account
by Rebecca Shafir
When I was a speech pathology graduate student in 1979, little did I think that ten years later, I’d be working alongside radiologists to diagnose and treat swallowing disorders. But even more unexpected was that by 1989, I would be teaching “customer-driven listening” to companies like Sun Microsystems, Stratus and Docent in the year 2000.
Yet that’s what has happened. What began as a simple request by my human resources director, turned into an opportunity to offer my skills as a speech/language pathologist to the corporate world.
The breadth of training we receive as speech pathologists and audiologists paired with our unique life experiences can create some interesting challenges. In my case, I had studied theater and opera as an undergraduate at Indiana University. The rigors of vigilant voice training and performing drove me to discover meditation as a way of relaxing and focusing my mind.
Meditation, martial arts training and a spiritual quest led me to explore my true nature, and, eventually to discover that my talents could be put to better use as a therapist. My studies in speech pathology, similar those who are reading this article, included not only an understanding of normal and disordered communication and how to treat them, but generous doses of psychology courses and counseling training to apply this knowledge.
Working with children and adults, in various settings from broom-closet-sized therapy spaces with little or no budget, to glitzy high-tech diagnostic suites has taught us volumes about creativity and, to quote Deepak Chopra, “potentialities.” Large caseloads and managed care introduced us to the less pleasant side of the business end of service delivery. Through all this, we have learned to competently and professionally “sell” the importance of communication.
However, in light of the ever-changing landscape of resources, space, and dwindling reimbursement, it becomes necessary to start exploring ‘outside of the box.’ We must be aware of the fact that the wide spectrum of skills we have acquired are very marketable to the “normal” but nevertheless, communication-needy population.
For many of us, accent reduction and voice coaching were the first stepping-stones into corporate America. However, it took a mental shift to be successful in these new settings. (Incidentally, this shift, only served to enhance my job at the hospital, which at the time was rapidly becoming more business driven.) It was essential to learn how to promote myself and my services to a brave new world.
It was like arriving to a new country with a culture that put a premium on profitability and stock options. I had to learn to speak to a different customer’s needs. To do this effectively, it was important to get into their minds and find out what communication services were important to them, how they wanted to get them and how much they were willing to pay. Then, I could go about the business of making it attractive and, of course, indispensable.
As it turned out, accent reduction, and to a lesser extent, voice training to upper levels of management, was not a big draw. It was very time-consuming and required highly motivated students. There was a modest need for this service, but, in my experience, it was not a pressing concern to companies. Nevertheless, I persevered, looking for a way I could contribute to the business world in a meaningful way.
Then, one day I was asked by the human resources director at my hospital to teach a listening class to middle managers. Even though her request took me by surprise, I thought it was absolutely reasonable to ask a SLP to teach a listening improvement course. I began doing my homework.
While researching the major newspapers, trade journals and magazines I noted that a new emphasis was emerging – the need to ‘listen to the customer’. School and workplace violence, escalating divorce, depression, suicide were also making the headlines. Poor listening or a lack of listening appeared to be a common thread.
Coincidentally, I had some startling encounters with patients who suffered serious consequences due to a breakdown in communication with their caregivers. Malpractice suits starting popping up in various parts of the country; mainly patients blaming their doctors for not listening to them. Interviews with corporate trainers and managers revealed that traditional ways of teaching listening were not successful or well received.
What I discovered was that traditional courses on “active listening” were crash courses in learning ‘how to act like a good listener’. They often ignored the real issues plaguing most of us like how to stay focused and avoid being judgmental. Yet the need to improve one’s abilities to listen to and connect better with co-workers and customers was in the spotlight.
I questioned whether I had the skills to teach these kinds of classes. After all, who was out there teaching listening courses? Corporate trainers! Social workers! Psychologists! They may be good listeners themselves, or know how to teach, but who knows more about the listening process from a practical standpoint than SLPs and audiologists? Plus, we teach everyday! This was a natural niche.
However, many questions kept me up at night. For example, how could I make listening training interesting and worthwhile? Could students take these skills home with them and improve their relationships with their families? And, how would I go about convincing a VP of a sales organization that my approach would positively affect his bottom line?
Shortly thereafter, I discovered the International Listening Association (I think I’m still the only member who is a SLP), a group of sharing, dedicated professionals who have done much research on listening training. I obtained hundreds of articles related to the costs of poor listening in this country. I interviewed experts in psychology, law, education, healthcare and business. As the media capitalized on stories depicting the ill effects of our disconnected society, a trend toward corporate spirituality was heating up. Here is where my training as an SLP and life experience clicked.
I put my formula for combining mindfulness training and communication to work in various community workshops, getting paid about $150 per class to test my thesis. After about three years of refinement and feedback from adult students from all walks of life, the practice of mindful listening became “book worthy.” Months after the workshops students were reporting improved abilities to concentrate and reduce barriers between themselves and their partners. Businesspeople were reporting an increase in customer loyalty and greater ease in dealing with difficult clients.
My market has expanded from small to large corporations, schools, various community groups and associations. Plus, I was able to charge much greater fees for this training.
My speech pathology practice at Lahey Clinic is my laboratory. Everyday my patients and I reap the benefits of mindful listening in terms of their outcomes and my job satisfaction. Currently, as part of a service excellence team at Lahey Clinic, I train managers, physicians and front line personnel to connect better with patients and each other.
Listening training offers SLPs and audiologists several opportunities. It gives us an opportunity to widen our scope in rehabilitation and become an even more valuable member of our organizations and communities. On a personal note, we can be more effective in our work and family relationships, if we are able to take in the “whole message,” to take into account the priorities of patients and their caregivers, and focus on process of building a trusting relationship which directly affects outcome.
After 20 years people are still asking, what is a speech pathologist? What does an audiologist do exactly? I hope The Zen of Listening serves to inform people on a commercial level who we are. I just returned from a six-city book tour and the response has been remarkable in many ways. I receive e-mails from readers everyday, but the most heart-warming responses are from patients who felt that their speech pathologists or audiologists were the best listeners they knew. The book is already in its second printing and I’ve sold rights to German, Spanish and Turkish publishers.
That brings us back to getting outside of the box and applying our knowledge not only within our institutions, but beyond those boundaries, where it’s sorely needed. I hope my experience will encourage other SLPs and audiologists to consider the teaching of listening as a complement to their clinical work.
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