1. Clear Listening
| February 2006

2. Types of listening Distracted Listening Active Listening
Attention focused on our own inner dialogue and self interest.
Distracted Listening
Attention focused on analyzing, assessing, judging what we are hearing.
Active Listening
No wonder there’s so much effort to train leaders to be good listeners: normal patterns work against us. The conversation with the person in front of us competes with the noise in our own thinking.
Open, clear and curious about learning and absorbing everything we can about what we are hearing.
Clear Listening

3. Generating Insights Insights Clear Listening Presence 15
The key to listening is not an effortful technique, but a stance of Presence that keeps us open-minded and liberates us from old ideas through fresh insights.
Presence 15

4. Clear Listening: Generic vs. Specific
Generic Exploration
Open
Loaded
Specific Exploration
Further distinctions help sustain Clear Listening by becoming aware of the effect of the type of questions we ask. Do our questions foment defensive and other forms of process thinking. Or do they encourage reflection?
Descriptive
Judgmental

5. Clear Questioning: Descriptive vs. Judgmental
Descriptive vs. Judgmental: Focus questions on what the person did rather than pose the question within a judgment of who he/she is
DESCRIPTIVE
”What was going through your mind when you read the ?”
“What do you typically do following meetings?”
“What were the outcomes of your actions during the presentation?”
JUDGMENTAL
“Why did you misinterpret what he meant in that ?”
“Why don’t you follow up more quickly with folks following meetings?”
“Did you notice how your actions adversely impacted the audience during the presentation?”

6. Clear Questioning: Open vs. Loaded
Open vs. Loaded: Ask questions in a more general manner rather than specific questions that force people into one or more alternatives
OPEN
“What are your assumptions about change here?”
“What are your feelings about the change effort?”
“What types of things do you do when confronted with change?”
LOADED
“Why is your thinking so negative about change here?”
“Why do you feel so angry and resigned about the change effort?
“Why don’t you take more action when confronted with change?”

7. Silence is essential to bring about coherence and wholeness.
- David Bohm -
Pure attention in our listening:
has no content
is like a laser which transforms the mind into the shape and quality of whatever is being illuminated
Deep inner reflection
What to do during silence:
Allow the silence and pay attention to what is coming through
Ask yourself, “What assumptions am I making about this?”
Ask yourself, “What filters/mental models am I currently using to see this?”