Listening for Change

How can we listen for change?

A path to consider:

Self-assess. Are you listening?

I’m doing a pulse check this week by using this tally sheet to pick up on my own listening trends.

Adjust the columns based on who is important to you and how you spend your time. Then, get ready to tally!

Brush up on your active listening.

Active listening is about making a conscious effort to understand the whole message from the person at your side, and only that. It’s the opposite of listening to prepare your smart response, rebuttal or next question. 

For this, I always go back to Elena Aguilar’s Active Listening Stems for a refresh. Some of my go-to’s are:

• Let me play that back, what I’m hearing is…

• You just shared… Is that correct?

• As I listen to you, I’m hearing… What, if anything, else do you feel I should know?

Watch out for toxic positivity!

We don’t need to constantly say it’s going to be ok, instead, let’s stand alongside others through acknowledging and validating.

What phrase would make you feel most relieved?

Pay that forward to others!