Are we really listening?
How often do we listen to somebody? I mean really listen to them without our own thoughts and stories playing in the background. As a trainer, facilitator and coach I have always considered myself to be a good listener. However, I am noticing more and more how rarely I am actually fully present and listening both socially and at work.
The other day I went for a meal with a friend. I asked her about what her dreams were for her business. As she began to reveal her heart-felt ideas and dreams I became distracted by a text message that I’d noticed on my phone. Before too long I’d lost the thread of the conversation and it must have been obvious to her that I wasn’t fully present because the way she was speaking about her dreams changed. The enthusiasm had gone and her words petered out. I immediately apologised and revealed that I hadn’t been fully present to something that was so precious to her. She said she had noticed I wasn’t fully present and so had started to ‘think small’ about her ideas. Dreams are so precious, especially in their infancy“A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man’s brow”. Ovid
- What if we could all learn how to be more fully present with others? What value might that add?
- What if we as leaders and team members were able to be fully present to the ideas and needs of our colleagues, clients and customers?
- What might you need to let go of to be fully present when listening?
- Who in your life does this for you?
- Who in your life might you need to be more present to?
Learning how to be fully present when listening to others is a really empowering gift to give to others. On our Pioneer Programme we will be exploring this through a series of practical exercises that help you to realise the impact of presence and non-presence on the other person. We explore both the inner game and outer game of being fully present to somebody else. Imagine what potential we might unlock in our people were we able to be fully present to them more of the time.
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