Pete Carroll, the Seattle Seahawks coach whose team won the super bowl in 2014, spoke to a reporter about, of all things, Iraq. Caroll, according to the reporter, is passionate about bringing out the best in people, including his players.

The reporter quotes Carroll as supposing that “we sent 10,000 people to Iraq as peacefully as we could go. And we walked wherever they would let us go, and we just talked to people and listened to what their issues were. And then we tried to figure out the best way we could to support them and change things . . .”

The idea is to listen to people and answer their call, not “tell them what to do,” Carroll said.

Recently I read an article in State Magazine about seven tiny programs in a small African country off the beaten path. Few Americans have heard of the country, Togo. It has few agencies of the U.S. government working there, just the State Department and the Peace Corps. Recently, however, the American embassy partnered with the U.S. Department of Defense and with local communities to use a small amount of money available for humanitarian assistance.

Projects were suggested by the community, a grassroots kind of process. Completed projects included school construction, clinics, and a waste transfer station. They were well-received by the Togolese. They were, after all, what the communities identified as needed.

Amazing what happens when you stop talking long enough to listen to people.