The Key to Successful Relationships

I learn so much from my international students. In a paper, one of my students referenced “Nunchi,” the Korean word for the subtle art of listening and sensing another person’s mood. This is key to success in every personal and professional relationship, and I wish we had an English language equivalent.

Learning how and when to ask for an informational interview, promotion, a raise, a date, argue a grade with a teacher, ask your parents for money, or anything that requires another person to agree with you, must be handled with care. It’s your ability to sense a mood and phrase a sentence in the right way that will assure a favorable response. One of my favorite books on the art of persuasion is “How to Argue and Win Every Time: At Home, at Work, in
Court, Everywhere, Everyday” by a very famous trial attorney named Gerry Spence. 

The key to a successful outcome is the ability to listen. As we say in class, “You have two ears and one mouth, use them in that ratio with NUNCHI.”