If the fundamental unit of work is a conversation, listening is the quieter, more powerful component of communication.
We’ve found listening skills to be core to our work with clients and teams, as well as core to our work with clients 1-1. A culture of listening sets up the container for deeper conversations to happen through deeper inquiry.
Think about the last time you felt heard. Being heard is one of the most validating things for us as humans. How amazing is it to have someone be present with you who hears you? Moreover, any conversation that weaves its way out from good listening will take a different path than a transactional exchange of words.
True listening is rare. And yet, we believe it’s among the most needed life and leadership skills of our time. Attentive, conscious listening not only connects us in meaningful ways with the other human beings in our lives (supporting strong, healthy relational bonds), but it can also profoundly impact practical results in our organizations. For example, when we listen consciously we promote freer flow of crucial information across positional and functional boundaries, we give ourselves and others more space to examine our mental models, and we’re more likely to be engaging in our work from a learning mindset. Listening supports better decision making, smarter problem solving, and more innovative solution creation.
Listening may be the less-traveled-but-surer path to the impact we’d like to have in the world. It can change the way we are with ourselves, and with the important others in our lives and work: our kids, our teams, our investors, our partners, our friends. Over the coming days, we’ll explore ways we can improve our listening practices and better put to use this powerful, yet undervalued, tool.
The course will unfold via a series of 6 emails full of content – one email per day over the course of 6 days. You’ll also be able to reference each day’s content on this site. If you have any questions, please reach out to hello@reboot.io.