Career & Life Lessons from C-SPAN Top Interviewer Brian Lamb

Brian Lamb, the host of C-SPAN's Q&A and Booknotes, has interviewed a who's who of our intelligentsia from Isabella Wilkerson to Malcolm Gladwell to Charles Krauthammer. He's also written a new book, Sundays at Eight: 25 years of stories from C-SPAN's Q&A and Booknotes. And he was the guest on my NPR-San Francisco radio show.

Here are some of the points he made about career and life issues, plus my comments.

Marty: Do you have a key principle of interviewing?

Brian: Really listen.

Indeed, whether you're interviewing for a job, are a job interviewer, or even on a first date, there's a tendency, after asking your question, to not listen well but to instead think about what you'll say or ask next. Everyone thinks they're a good listener. Most people aren't as good as they think.