We are now familiar with “horse whisperers” as people who are unusually gifted at calming wild horses. In the 1998 movie, Robert Redford played the man who knew that violence is never the answer. Well, that same principle is growing in popularity outside of horse training circles. Today it is being applied successfully by corporations, governmental agencies, school administrators, at-risk-youth, violent offenders and many others.
Founded on a consistent set of principles, communication and trust, people whisperers can diffuse tension and potential conflict. Now this is listed by Future magazine as one of the highest-paying careers of the next 20 years. Whisperers are people who “are particularly skilled at calming the most irate customers and building relationships with key clients.” It ranks right up there with bioinformationalists and telemedicine technicians.
This is an example of a new opportunity that may embrace skills formerly used in a more traditional and poorly paid position. If you have been trained as a counselor, school teacher or mediator, you may find a great opportunity as a “people whisperer.”
I love this — I witnessed for years divorcing couples who had closed their minds and their hearts to their partner, their dreams, their goals and became angry with the world. I always found that at some point in the process, they sighed when on the phone with me. I felt their frustration and usually changed the topic from the court process to their own process of getting their life back. It would start with tears but together we came up with three simple things they could do over the weekend that were free and a starting point.
Sherry – wow, working with divorcing couples had to be tough. And I suspect much like taming wild stallions. I love seeing the similarity in how we can calm animals and then recognizing the same principles work with people.
You hit me between the numbers with “people whispering”. I worked in a clinic and the owners said they knew to send me “where angels dare not tread”. Dissatisfied staff members, irate patients and intransigent insurance companies reacted to the words I used. Many watched me walk into a waiting room full of conflict and walk out with higher customer satisfaction ratings. I’m hopeful about hearing more about “people whispering”. I am now serving as a pastor and hope to learn of the principles at the base of people whispering.
Alex, I’m sure those same people skills will serve you well as a pastor. I’ve seen a lot of “wild horses” inside church walls.
I’ve never heard of this, Dan, but I’m going to share it with my son. He is a natural born people-whisperer.