This week, I had an experience with a service provider that stayed with me.
A request had remained unresolved for nearly two months. I had called different times without bringing the whole process to completion, so last week a manager took over after seeing the call history.
I asked her to hear me first. I wanted her to understand what had happened and why I had called different times and sorry as I didn't fulfill the info needed.
She listened for a while, then said:
“You want to solve the problem, right? Let me speak. You are giving me a lot of context.”
I smiled inside. A moment earlier, I had been asking her to listen to me. Now she was asking me to listen to her.
She gathered what she needed, said she would handle it that day, and reminded me that I could simply ask for what I needed rather than giving all the context.
Later, I shared the story with my niece. Her response was simple: when she uses a service, she just asks for what she needs.
There is a part of me that loves context. It wants to understand what happened before and what lives underneath what we can immediately see. That part has helped me a lot — in coaching, research, leadership and relationships.
We do not need to lose that part. We can let it blossom at the right time, in the right place.
And we can also welcome another part: the one that can stay with the essence of the moment and let some of the story rest.
There is room for both.
We want to be understood. We want the whole story to have a place. And sometimes what helps the moment move is simply naming what matters now.
Sometimes context is care.
Sometimes clarity is care too.
This happens beyond customer service — in leadership, partnership, family, and in the way we speak to ourselves.
In 1000 Souls in Me, I keep noticing how many parts can arrive in one ordinary moment: the one wanting to be understood, the one wanting to explain, the one wanting to move, the one ready to listen.
No soul needs to disappear.
REFLECTION CORNER:
This week, we can notice one ordinary conversation and ask:
What does this moment need from us — more emotional context, more clarity, or both?
When sharing a goal with a team member, do they need to understand why it matters — and what we are creating together?
When asking someone to do something, have we shared enough context for them to take ownership — and enough clarity for them to act?
When listening to a customer, can we hear the experience behind the request — while also staying close to what they actually need?
It is not about choosing context or clarity.
It is about noticing what this person, this relationship and this moment need from us now.
Love and gratitude from Jen.
#1000soulsinme #jenvuhuong #sundayrebirth #soulevolution #consciousleadership
