This is a story i experienced myself.
Back in 2012, i was traveling from
S. Korea to my country, Albania,
with a transit flight to China.
Beside me there was a man
traveling in economic seats so i decided to have a conversation with him.
We had a great talk and i explained my experience from Sheraton.
I was very inspired and could never stop showing how proud i was and describing what is it like to be working
in a 5 star hotel like Sheraton.
I noticed him trying to hear more than speak
and he would rarely say his opinion.
It was only the last 10 minutes that he revealed who he was: CEO of all Lotte Hotels based in East China!
(For those who don't know,
Lotte is a huge Korean brand and hotel chain)
I was shocked!
I was there talking for an hour
about 5 star hotels and their standards,
in front of a person who knew exactly what those things were.
He learned a lot from his Rival - Sheraton and i learned nothing from him because i was too busy speaking.
After thinking about this situation i learned the most important lesson in my life.
People who are the most open minded will never stop growing and developing.
I learned that a wise person,
usually listens more than speaks.
In fact when we speak
we learn nothing. We just show to others what we already know.
But when we listen,
a brand new knowledge
opens up our eyes, ears and mind
filling us with knowledge.
Hope this was inspiring.
It comes from a personal experience.
Have a great day.