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Do you ever feel overwhelmed with all of the challenges that show up at work and at home? And then you feel stuck. This episode of the listening SUPERPOWER podcast will give you a way to get clear and unstuck, and listening plays a key role.

Reuven Shelef is the Founder and CEO of OUT OF THE BOX Consulting and creator of the Untangling Complex Challenges® methodology. With over 30 years of experience in engineering, technology, business transformation, and human dynamics, he helps Fortune 500 companies, startups, and executives solve complex problems by combining sharp logic with deep understanding of human behavior. His method was developed from his own life experiences, blending business, engineering, management consulting, and personal growth.

As a Certified Salesforce Consulting Partner with 30+ years of Management Consulting experience, Reuven's precise approach and authentic leadership have made him a trusted advisor who drives meaningful change.

In this episode, Reuven clarifies what a complex challenge is and how to map out what seems overwhelming to a clear picture that can lead to clearly defining next steps. He shares his journey from engineering to personal development, highlighting the importance of listening to oneself and others. He explains how focusing on root causes instead of symptoms leads to better solutions and explores how relationships fuel personal and professional growth. This episode offers valuable insights on empathy, self-awareness, and navigating life's complexities.

On listening: "Part of my listening is to listen to their listening. Are they actually listening? And what are they listening to?" - Reuven Shelef

SUPERPOWER Notes:

01:03 - The Power of Listening: Reuven recalls learning to listen consciously during his Air Force tests.

05:35 - Complex vs. Simple Challenges: He explains complex challenges involve feeling stuck without clear solutions.

10:30 - Listening to Their Listening: Reuven highlights reading others' non-verbal cues to improve communication.

12:57 - Personal Growth Journey: He shares transitioning from a technical mindset to exploring identity and purpose.

19:07 - Applying Business Tools Personally: Reuven used professional methods like mapping to navigate personal crises.

20:32 - Untangling Complex Challenges: He outlines his approach to identifying root causes over symptoms.

25:10 - Cross-Pollinating Problem-Solving: Reuven combines engineering logic with emotional perspectives.

29:21- Unique Consulting Role: He blends technical and personal insights for a distinct coaching style.

34:40 - Discovering Self and Connection: Understanding oneself is key to meaningful relationships.

36:06 - Relationships and Growth: Reuven notes interpersonal dynamics drive many personal growth challenges.

40:08 - Free Short Calls: Listeners can book free calls with Reuven to discuss and untangle challenges.

Key Takeaways:

• on the power of listening: "Listening to silence... it's fascinating to be alone and listen to silence." - Reuven Shelef
• on listening and self-awareness: "Sometimes I'll stop and I say, 'I'm sorry, I wasn't listening.' It took me some time and training to get over the "looking bad" issue." - Reuven Shelef
• on relationships: "There is very little that can be accomplished alone. There are times to be alone. That's also part of being comfortable in your own skin." - Reuven Shelef

Connect with Reuven Shelef:

• Website: www.reuvenshelef.com
• Book a call: MeetReuven.com
• Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/reuvenshelef/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Substack listening ALCHEMY newsletter
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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Dr. Jade Singleton is a strategic consultant, educator, and entrepreneur dedicated to culture transformation and the well-being of Black women professionals. She is the founder of Johnson Squared Consulting and IKONI Collective, creator of the Sarah Jane Academy™, and producer of the documentary Ninety-Two: The Rest Rebellion No One Saw Coming. With experience as a senior consultant at NASA and advisor to major organizations like Amazon and Uber, she brings deep expertise in strategic DEI work, workplace wellness, and the radical practice of rest as resistance.

On this episode of the listening SUPERPOWER podcast, Jade and host Raquel Ark explore the transformative power of listening. Jade emphasizes what it means to “listen to believe.” She shares how vulnerability can dissolve barriers in the business context, how common ground can shift conflicts into collaboration, and how organizations carry a “corporate soul” that shapes behavior and culture. Jade also highlights listening to self care and the emerging rest rebellion among Black women and the healing power of community care and storytelling. This episode is a powerful reflection on empathy, resilience, and creating spaces where truth and connection can thrive.

Enjoy listening to this episode of the listening SUPERPOWER podcast and let us know your thoughts. Subscribe and share the listening SUPERPOWER podcast so that we can reach more people to be part of the listening movement.

On taking action: “Listening to believe means coming in with the understanding that the person talking to you is telling the truth about their experience.” — Jade Singleton

SUPERPOWER Notes:

• 00:01:37 – Active vs Passive Listening: Jade explains that active listening requires full engagement, focusing on understanding and responding thoughtfully, unlike passive listening, which is more about merely hearing words without deeper connection.
• 00:04:06 – Listening to Believe: The key to authentic empathy is suspending judgment and truly believing others’ experiences as their truth, creating a grounded foundation for communication.
• 00:09:37 – Building Community through Vulnerability: Jade shares how vulnerability exercises create shared experiences that dissolve barriers and foster genuine connection in factions with opposing views.
• 00:12:14 – Common Ground in Conflict Resolution: Conflict can be transformed when teams find tangible shared goals or narratives, helping to shift perspectives from opposition to collaboration.
• 00:16:06 – Corporate Soul and Shared Identity: Organizations hold narratives that influence individual behavior; understanding this soul or identity helps navigate conflicts and build stronger teams.
• 00:19:23 – Rest Rebellion Among Black Women: An emerging quiet movement where Black women consent to prioritize rest, healing, and self-care as resistance against systemic exhaustion.
• 00:22:38 – Community Healing and Self-Focus: Emphasizes the importance of co-regulation and community care as collective coping mechanisms during sociopolitical and personal stress.
• 00:27:21 – Leaving for Mental Well-Being: Stories of women choosing to leave toxic environments or geographic locations to preserve identity and mental health.
• 00:30:16 – Encouragement Through Community Voice: How sharing stories within communities fosters empowerment, encouragement, and collective strength.

Key Takeaways:

• On the power of listening: “Listening is not just about hearing words; it’s about understanding the truth behind them.” — Jade Singleton
• On community building: “When we listen deeply, we create spaces for healing and connection.” — Jade Singleton
• On self-care: “It’s okay to prioritize your well-being; it’s essential for personal and collective growth.” — Jade Singleton

Notes/Mentions:

• Documentary: "92: The Rest Rebellion No One Saw Coming" focusing on the experiences of Black women reclaiming their time and energy.

Connect with Jade Singleton:

• Website: www.ikoni.org
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-jade-singleton-8b2830110

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Substack listening ALCHEMY newsletter
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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Oscar Trimboli, renowned listening expert and author, returns with transformative insights from his unique journey of coding listening behaviors into software. Inspired by personal experiences with his father's stroke recovery and extensive research within organizational teams, Oscar reveals how technology and conscious facilitation can dramatically improve listening dynamics, reduce meeting time, and foster authentic participation.

In this episode of the listening SUPERPOWER podcast with host Raquel Ark and discover how simple shifts—like asking shorter, clarifying questions and enabling everyone’s voice to be heard—can overhaul team communication and unlock untapped commercial and human potential. Learn why “the hardest listening role is the speaker,” how pre-meeting listening can boost confidence, and how vivid metaphors can make your message unforgettable.

Whether you lead meetings, manage teams, or want to deepen your listening practice, Oscar provides practical tools and data-driven strategies to elevate your communication for lasting impact.

On taking action: "The difference between hearing and listening is action." -- Oscar Trimboli

SUPERPOWER Notes: 02:00 — Stroke recovery communication breakthrough—Oscar’s father’s stroke taught him “you can communicate very effectively with somebody who can’t speak” using hand squeezes and positioning techniques that forced medical staff to engage the patient directly

04:42 — Taking responsibility through direct engagement: Moving close to his father’s face so medical professionals had to “look at him when they ask a question” helped his father “take responsibility for his recovery”

08:30 – From Microsoft vision to reality: Fifteen years after his boss said “if you could code how you listen, you could change the world,” Oscar now uses AI to analyze meeting dynamics and participation patterns

12:15 –The 80% share of voice problem: Data revealed few participants dominated 80% of speaking time until a different facilitator in week six dramatically increased participation and meeting effectiveness

18:20 – Halving meeting time through inclusion: Better facilitation that included everyone reduced meetings from “90 minutes weekly” to “45 minutes fortnightly” because “people feel heard and get buy-in”

22:45 – Eight words or less rule: Questions of “eight words or less had higher impact” and create “collective understanding” rather than individual comprehension

25:30 –The three-question test: Before asking: “write it down, count words, then ask: is this for me, them, or the group?” Group questions have highest impact

28:15 – Clarifying questions transform meetings:Only “one or two participants” ask clarifying questions consistently, but their presence helps “questions get better and meetings get shorter”

35:45 – Listen before the meeting: Contact executive assistants beforehand to understand question patterns and presentation preferences for high-stakes meetings

42:20 – Metaphors beat numbers:Use compelling metaphors like “budget as jazz band” because “they remember the metaphor before the numbers”

50:30 – The quiet CFO’s transformation: A shy CFO’s single word “snake” (about shedding old systems) helped transform company growth from 32% to 170% when leadership finally listened

Key Takeaways:

On the universal listening gap: "We are not good listeners just because we need to be." -- Oscar Trimboli

On the speaker's challenge: "The hardest listening role is the person currently speaking." -- Oscar Trimboli

On meeting effectiveness: "If you want fewer meetings and shorter ones, when you do have them, focus on inclusive facilitation that ensures everyone is heard.” -- Oscar Trimboli

On organizational potential: "My question to you listening is who are you ignoring in your organization that is holding you back from massive untapped potential commercially and human potential as well?" -- Oscar Trimboli

On taking action: "The difference between hearing and listening is action." -- Oscar Trimboli

Notes/Mentions: * Listening Quiz: listeningquiz.com - Discover what gets in your way of listening effectively (35,000+ people have taken it) * Tools mentioned: + TalkTime and EqualTime (meeting analytics add-ons) + Google Meets, Zoom, Microsoft Teams listening add-ons + Equal Time (Munich-based company for gender and participation analytics)

• Books referenced:
• "What Doctors Say and What Patients Hear" by Dr. Danielle Offrey

• Oscar's third book on listening (influenced by his father's stroke experience)

• Listening measurement tools: Talk-to-listen ratios, question analysis, clarifying question tracking, curiosity index

Connect with Oscar Trimboli

• www.oscartrimboli.com
• LinkedIn
• Deep Listening: Impact Beyond Words

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Substack listening ALCHEMY newsletter
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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Ingrid Nordli, Associate Professor in Linguistics at the UiT, the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø. Ingrid has been putting a lot of time into understanding how we develop listening skills. She talks about how young children in kindergarten can be trained to become great listeners using the listening circle.

Besides dedicating time to focus on children's listening development, she teaches university students language development, and academic writing. She was on the board of the International Listening Association and continues to be an active member.

In this episode, we dive deep into the often-overlooked power of listening with Ingrid, a phonetics expert from Norway. Through her experiences in education and research, Ingrid reveals how listening is a fundamental yet underappreciated aspect of communication.

Ingrid shares insights from her work with children and the importance of teaching listening skills from a young age, emphasizing that effective listening can transform interactions and relationships.

Join us as we explore the nuances of listening, the impact of listening circles, and the journey of writing a book aimed at enhancing listening skills in early childhood education.

On the kindergarten transformation: "When you teach the children about this listening circle procedure, they get more relaxed, more attentive to each other. They straighten their back and they feel heard, they feel seen, and get much more friendly with each other."– Ingrid Nordli

SUPERPOWER Notes: 02:00 – Nuanced listening knowledge: The phonetics revelation—how studying speech transcription exposed that listening has "so little room and no room of itself" in phonetics education, despite transcription accuracy depending entirely on listening abilities

04:42 – Definition of listening process: International Listening Association's framework—"Listening is the process of receiving, constructing meaning from and responding to spoken and or nonverbal messages"—discovered through deep research after realizing listening was the "necessary glue" in kindergarten language and music projects

07:57 – Listening circles for children: Simple but powerful tool that helps kids ages 3-6 become more relaxed, attentive, and respectful—they "straighten their back and feel heard, seen, and get much more friendly with each other" because everyone gets the chance to talk and are respected while speaking

14:33 – Listening in the Kindergarten: The book written with Christian Skog—a practical and theoretical guide combining listening with typical developmental activities, featuring eight different kindergarten activities

18:58 – Engaging in children's listening development: The importance of being humble and engaging with children's listening development because "we can learn so much about our own listening"—children naturally develop language rules but don't develop conscious listening awareness without guidance

19:50 – Importance of listening skills: The fundamental gap—"we are not good listeners just because we need to be.

25:11 – Children's book on listening: Collaboration with Ebele Chukwujama in Nigeria creating books for ages 4-6 about a child learning listening through conversations with mom, plus "Listening in Circles" for ages 6-9, all translated into Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo

27:14 – The importance of listening skills: Final thoughts on self-reflection

Key Takeaways:

On children as teachers: "We can learn so much about our own listening"– Ingrid Nordli

On the fundamental gap in child development: "When children are listening, but not taught how to listen, they miss out."– Ingrid Nordli

On the difference between natural and conscious learning: "Children naturally develop language rules but don't develop conscious listening awareness without guidance."– Ingrid Nordli

On the kindergarten transformation: "When you teach the children about this listening circle procedure, they get more relaxed, more attentive to each other. They straighten their back and they feel heard, they feel seen, and get much more friendly with each other."– Ingrid Nordli

Notes/Mentions: * "Listening in the Kindergarten" by Ingrid and Christian Skog: A resource for educators focusing on listening skills. * https://uit.no/ansatte/ingrid.c.nordli (Norwegian) * https://en.uit.no/ansatte/person?p_document_id=153137&p_dimension_id=88155 (English) * Listening in the Kindergarten (Norwegian title: Lytting i Barnehagen) - a book by Ingrid CNordli and Christian Skog * A professional book written as a children's book for children between four and six, authored by Ingrid C. Nordli and Ebele Chukwujama * Listening in Circles - a planned book for children between six and nine, authored by Ingrid C. Nordli and Ebele Chukwujama

Past Episode Referenced:

• Ebele Chukwujama interview - https://listeningalchemy.com/allgemein/the-listening-school-impacting-relationships-and-society-one-listening-ear-at-a-time-with-ebele-chukwujama/

Resources Mentioned: 1. Listening Circles Documentation: https://munin.uit.no/bitstream/handle/10037/33278/article.pdf?sequence=4 2. "Lytting i barnehagen" (Listening in the kindergarten) from the publishers website; Fagbokforlaget: https://fagbokforlaget.no/produkt/9788245050981-lytting-i-barnehagen

Connect with Ingrid Nordli: * Website: https://en.uit.no/ansatte/person?p_document_id=153137 * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ingrid-c-nordli-a1702523?originalSubdomain=no

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Substack listening ALCHEMY newsletter
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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Too many leaders miss the opportunity to have impact when it truly matters: the transformation that takes place when someone feels genuinely heard. This is especially important during turbulent times. It’s not just about reacting to a crisis, it’s about pausing for a moment to listen deeply. Without it, leaders risk isolation, poor decisions, and missed opportunities.

Martin Farrell, crisis coach and bestselling author of “Good Leaders in Turbulent Times: How to Navigate Wild Waters at Work,” reveals how listening becomes a lifejacket for leaders navigating chaos. Drawing on decades of global experience with organizations like the British Red Cross and UN Climate Change Secretariat, Martin shares the pivotal moments and practical strategies that help leaders spot early warning signs, create safe spaces for tough conversations, and transform crisis into connection and growth.

In this episode, discover the story behind the ‘penny drop’ moment, when someone knows they’re truly understood. Martin gives insight on subtle warning signs before a crisis occurs and also shares excerpts from 138 pieces of his advice in his book. Learn how mastering listening in turbulent times can turn wild waters into opportunities for lasting impact.

“Do we want to react and retaliate, or do you reflect and respond?” – Martin Farrell

SUPERPOWER Notes:

02:45 – What he realized the time he first noticed the power of listening: Working with coach Nancy Klein for 14 years, where she would listen for an hour and a half with complete presence, even during his silent moments and times of distress

06:30 – The transformative experience of being truly heard: How Nancy Klein’s listening created a space where he felt special and important in that moment, demonstrating the profound impact of dedicated attention

08:15 – Supporting leaders in crisis: His work with UK charity chief executives who were at risk of losing their jobs, providing support “until the end of the chapter” through primarily listening rather than advice-giving

11:20 – The power of being present in wild waters: Using the metaphor of someone in wild waters with crocodiles around, and how having someone experienced nearby who won’t drown provides crucial support

14:30 – From crisis support to storytelling: How his current work involves interviewing people who’ve processed their experiences to create anonymous advice for others still in crisis

17:45 – The journey of writing “Good Leaders in Turbulent Times”: How the book took eight years to complete with six different manuscripts, and the importance of authentic vulnerability in helping others

22:10 – Career background in civil society: Six decades of working in charitable organizations, from teenage years through international work with UN agencies and climate change initiatives

26:40 – The book’s unique structure: Five chapters featuring nine characters over seven years, showing the progression from missing warning signs to integration and wisdom

29:15 – Chapter one – missing the signs: How all the warning signs were present but the characters weren’t listening to or acting upon them, using the powerful question “What do you know now that you will discover in a year’s time?”

32:50 – Listening to weak signals: The importance of becoming adept at noticing and paying attention to early warning signs before they become crises

35:20 – The 138 pieces of advice: Four categories throughout the book – watch out (red flags), remember this (truths to hold onto), consider this (suggestions for action), and secret sauce (personal stories)

38:45 – Theory U and letting go/letting come: How silence and stillness are essential for touching the source of inner knowledge and emerging possibilities

42:30 – Practical advice for listening to inner signals: Go sit by a river or in a quiet place, use scrap paper for uncensored writing, and allow the process to unfold over 8-9 pages until clarity emerges

46:15 – The “no mud, no lotus” principle: How working with distress and discomfort can produce beautiful outcomes when you know how to process them effectively

48:20 – Developing your support network: The importance of having trusted people around you before crisis hits, and Martin’s participation in seven different support groups

51:30 – Live Well, Die Wise grief circles: Creating ceremonial safe spaces with candles, poems, and intentional grounding to allow deep sharing and discovery

53:45 – How to connect with Martin Farrell

Key Takeaways:

“My ultimate freedom is to respond to whatever you do to me.” – Martin Farrell

“Here is someone who had no agenda other than being with them and listening. And that was powerful.” – Martin Farrell

“Even if you’re not naturally interested in other people, you can fake it till you make it. Start being interested, and then you get more interested.” – Martin Farrell

“Particularly with those who are in distress, that is an enormous gift… I noticed the power of being there. I was going to say just being there, but it’s not just, it’s being there and being present.” – Martin Farrell

Notes/Mentions:

• Nancy Klein (Martin’s coach for 14 years)- https://www.timetothink.com/
• Theory U and Otto Scharmer’s Presencing Institute https://www.presencing.org/theoryu
• Live Well, Die Wise grief circles
• Deep Adaptation Forum
• Steven Appleby (illustrator of 41 drawings in the book)

“Good Leaders in Turbulent Times: How to Navigate Wild Waters at Work” by Martin Farrell: https://mybook.to/GoodLeaders and https://practicalinspiration.com/book/good-leaders-in-turbulent-times

Connect with Martin Farrell:

• Website: https://www.martinfarrell.org/
• Substack: https://martin228.substack.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martingfarrell

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Substack listening ALCHEMY newsletter
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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We often believe that great leadership comes from being an exceptional speaker, someone who can command a room and deliver compelling presentations. But what if the real superpower lies in the opposite skill?

In this episode of the Listening Superpower podcast, join me in conversation with Jonno White, an Australian leadership coach, podcast host, and author with over four years of podcasting experience and 236 episodes under his belt. Jonno shares his fascinating journey from believing speaking was his greatest strength to discovering that listening is the ultimate leadership tool.

Jonno shares his perspective on today's leadership challenges, from retaining younger talent to adapting leadership styles for different generations, and why understanding individual strengths might be more powerful than traditional role-based management.

Whether you're a seasoned leader looking to enhance your people skills or someone just beginning to explore the power of listening, this episode will challenge your assumptions about what makes great communication.

"The number one skill that comes up again and again is the power of listening. I had to unlearn what I learned when I was eight, because speaking was nowhere near as powerful as great listening." -- Jonno White

SUPERPOWER Notes:

01:15 -- From Fear to Overconfidence: Jonno recounts his grade three experience giving a speech about ants, where faking confidence led to success and shaped his belief that speaking was his superpower.

05:30 -- The Coaching Revelation: Jonno shares how he discovered that clients weren't transformed by his advice, but by having space to think through their own thoughts and reach their own conclusions.

10:45 -- The Sherlock Holmes Approach: Jonno's technique of being a detective while listening, paying attention to body language, sighs of relief, and moments of weight in conversations.

12:30 -- Understanding vs. Being Understood: The crucial distinction between listening to understand someone and ensuring they know you understand them—and why paraphrasing is so powerful.

15:20 -- The 15-Second Rule: Jonno's disciplined approach to coaching, counting to 15 seconds before responding and how this technique transforms conversations.

18:45 -- The Valentine's Day Disaster: A humorous story about trying out scripted listening techniques on a romantic date and the importance of genuine connection over mechanical methods.

24:15 -- Modern Leadership Challenges: Jonno identifies three key issues leaders face today: adapting to new revenue generation needs, wellbeing challenges, and retaining staff across generations.

28:00 -- Generational Workplace Dynamics: A breakdown of how different generations respond to workplace demands and why leaders need to understand varying motivations.

31:45 -- Learning from Gen Z Boundaries: How younger generations' approach to boundaries might actually be healthier and what leaders can learn from this perspective.

34:30 -- From Arranger to Individualization: The shift from seeing what needs to be done and finding people to do it, versus seeing people and finding what they could do.

Key Takeaways

"People don't feel heard when the person across from them understands them. They feel heard the moment that they understand that the person across from them understands them." -- Jonno White

"I spend most of my time counting in my head because I try to pause for 15 seconds... letting the silence do the heavy lifting." -- Jonno White

"How can we get alongside them and say, I'm here. I'm present. What's going on? You're more important than the deadline." -- Jonno White

"After all these years, I just keep getting reminded more and more that there really is no more important skill for a leader than to listen well." -- Jonno White

Connect with Jonno White:

• Podcast: Leadership Conversations with Jonno White Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-conversations-with-jonno-white-podcast/id1593825558
• Book: "Step Up or Step Out" https://www.amazon.com/Step-Up-Out-Difficult-Conflict/dp/B097X7B5LD
• https://www.consultclarity.org/
• Email: Jonno@consultclarity.org

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• https://listeningalchemy.com/
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• listeningsuperpower@gmail.com
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn: Raquel Ark

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Imagine a cartoon opening a door to transform a challenging conversation into a productive and meaningful conversation in your team. In this episode, we explore how listening and observation can engage humor which can shift our mindset and enhance our ability to engage with others meaningfully.

Dave Coverly is the award-winning creator of the internationally syndicated cartoon Speed Bump, featured in hundreds of publications including The Washington Post, The New Yorker, and The Globe & Mail. A four-time winner of the National Cartoonists Society’s “Best Newspaper Panel” award, he received their highest honor, the Reuben Award for “Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year,” in 2009.

His work appears on greeting cards, in books, and across major media outlets, and he serves as the principal cartoonist for BarkBox.

Dave Coverly has authored several cartoon collections and children's books published by Macmillan namely Speed Bump: A Collection of Cartoon Skidmarks (Andrews McMeel), Cartoons for Idea People (ECW), Just One %$#@ Speed Bump After Another (ECW), Dogs Are People, Too, and its sequel, Cats Are People, Too.

And his children’s picture books include Sue MacDonald Had a Book (with Jim Tobin, Macmillan), The Very Inappropriate Word (with Jim Tobin, Macmillan), and How To Care For Your T-Rex (with Ken Baker, Macmillan). His chapter book trilogy began with Night of the Living Worms, and continued with Night of the Living Shadows, and Night of the Living Zombie Bugs.

With a career spanning over 30 years, Dave has mastered the art of observational humor, using his cartoons to reflect on the human experience and the nuances of everyday life.

In this conversation, Dave shares personal stories and insights that have shaped his career as a cartoonist with listening playing a core role. Not just as a skill, but as a vital part understanding human patterns and through this tapping into human connection.

\We explore how humor can serve as a bridge to deeper conversations and how the act of listening can inform and inspire creativity. Listen to the end, where David also shares how humor can help navigate serious conversations and lighten the mood.

Enjoy listening in!

“Listening is about connecting with people and understanding their experiences.” – Dave Coverly

SUPERPOWER Notes:

00:08 – The Power of Humor. Dave discusses how humor can provide a different perspective on serious topics and enhance communication.

02:50 – Early Influences. Reflecting on his childhood experiences with his uncle and teacher that sparked his interest in listening and humor.

10:15 – The Role of Observation. Dave explains how being an observant listener informs his cartooning process and helps him create relatable content.

15:30 – The Importance of Context. Understanding how context shapes humor and the need to stay relevant in a changing world.

22:00 – Listening as a Creative Tool. How deep listening can lead to new ideas and insights in both cartooning and everyday interactions.

30:00 – The Impact of Silence. Exploring how silence can enhance the listening experience and foster deeper connections.

35:00 – Humor in Serious Situations. Dave shares how humor can help navigate serious conversations and lighten the mood.

42:00 – The Evolution of Humor. A discussion on how humor adapts to cultural changes and the importance of authenticity in comedic expression.

Key Takeaways:

“Doing humor is kind of that right brain, left brain thing." – Dave Coverly

“Humor is a way to connect with people and share experiences.” – Dave Coverly

“Listening is not just about hearing words; it’s about understanding the context and emotions behind them.” – Dave Coverly

"I love the idea of having a cartoon as a pause for, to take a breath or pause to reset or a pause to allow another perspective or pause to give permission to another perspective."– Dave Coverly

People Mentioned:

1. Mike Peters - A cartoonist who provided Dave with valuable advice about humor and authenticity in cartooning.
2. Christy Ottaviano - Dave's children's book editor, described as a legend in the industry.

Connect with Dave Coverly:

• https://www.speedbump.com/
• https://www.instagram.com/speedbumpcomic/

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In this episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with Liz, a respected voice in the realm of listening and cultural dynamics. Liz brings a unique perspective on how listening varies across different cultures and the importance of adapting our listening styles to foster deeper connections.

Dr. Elizabeth S. Parks is an instructor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. An affiliate faculty with the Colorado School of Public Health. Dr. Parks' work is at the intersection of social science and the humanities and explores how we can improve listening across diversity and difference.

Today, she has over 50 peer reviewed publications and two acclaimed books, including the recently published book that we'll talk about in the podcast, Listening the Key Concepts, which explores 177 different ways to listen. Her books bring deep insight into ethics and the power of listening.

Liz shares her journey of growing up in a bicultural home, where she learned early on that listening is not a one-size-fits-all approach. She discusses the contrasting ways she showed respect and honor to her family members from different cultural backgrounds, highlighting the significance of adapting her listening style.

"The way that we show up as listeners is really the first act of communication, not the second."– Elizabeth S. Parks

SUPERPOWER Notes:

• 05:08 – Liz reflects on her childhood experiences in a bicultural home and how they shaped her understanding of listening.
• 07:57 – The conversation shifts to Liz's adult experiences and the challenges of adapting her listening style when interacting with her partner's family.
• 10:22 – Liz emphasizes the importance of checking in with others to align expectations and ensure effective communication.
• 11:20 – The concept of code-switching is introduced, explaining how individuals navigate different cultural contexts through their listening behaviors.
• 20:05 – Liz discusses the importance of listening to oneself and maintaining authenticity while adapting to various cultural environments.
• 18:04 – The conversation delves into the research behind listening, with Liz sharing her motivations for studying the topic and the ethical implications of listening.
• 23:11 – Liz outlines three critical questions regarding listening: When do we listen? What kind of listening do we engage in? When do we stop listening?
• 34:07 – The discussion highlights the various types of listening, including horizontal and vertical listening, and their relevance in organizational contexts.
• 45:28 – Liz shares her insights on dialogic listening and the importance of creating meaning together in conversations.

Key Takeaways * “The way that I listen really, really matters for the ways that those relationships played out.” – Elizabeth S. Parks * “Listening is work in these different cultures, but listening to ourselves and being really true to ourselves is also extremely important.” – Elizabeth S. Parks * “In order to be the kind of listeners we want to be, we need to be a bit more strategic about our own energy flows.” – Elizabeth S. Parks

Connect with ELizabeth Parks * https://www.elizabethsparks.org/ * Latest book: https://www.jdoqocy.com/click-101234333-14076226?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.routledge.com%2FListening-The-Key-Concepts%2FParks-Faw-Lane%2Fp%2Fbook%2F9781032531847

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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Are you tired of being just another leader? Want to inspire your team, drive innovation, and build lasting relationships? The secret lies in a skill you may have overlooked: listening.

Effective leadership often hinges on a surprising skill that can go unnoticed: listening. Raquel Ark shares that listening isn't just a soft skill; it's a powerful skill that can shape how you lead and influence.

Imagine leading a team that's motivated, engaged, and full of ideas. Effective listening fosters trust, respect, and a positive work culture. It's can play an important role in increasing productivity and wellbeing for you and your team.

What if you could make better decisions, prevent explosive conflicts or manage tensions with more ease. Listening helps you connect with your team's needs, concerns, and aspirations, as well as your own. It's not just a skill; it's a superpower.

Join Raquel as she explores the different types of power that listening can bring to leadership and everyday interactions, providing practical strategies to grow your listening superpower.

"Listening is not just a soft skill. It's a power skill. It's a transformative force that shapes the way leaders like you, like me, connect, inspire, and lead." - Raquel Ark

Listening SUPERPOWER NOTES

• 00:10: Emphasizing the importance of listening as a transformative leadership skill.
• 01:28: The different types of power that listening can bring to leadership.
• 4:20: Discussion on the common undervaluation of listening in the business world compared to speaking, highlighting the impact of listening on effective leadership.
• 07:04: Presentation of research findings indicating a shift towards prestige-based leadership, which emphasizes listening and collaboration over autocratic dominance.
• 11:08: Conclusion on the significance of listening as a power skill that can transform organizations and drive sustained success, encouraging leaders to embrace listening in their practices.

Key Takeaways:

• "The true power of effective leadership lies in listening, which is often an overlooked skill or capacity that we have, or that's important to develop."- Raquel Ark

• "When listening is brought into teams, those leaders are able to affect their teams in ways where they have more success and they feel better." - Raquel Ark

• "Listening is not just a tool. It's actually really cool. It's this high value currency that can transform organizations and really drive this sustained success."- Raquel Ark

• "The leaders who listen are the ones who are going to lead us into the future."- Raquel Ark

Resources Mentioned:

• Kluger, Avraham & Itzchakov, Guy. (2022). The Power of Listening at Work. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior. 9. 10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-012420-091013
• https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prestige
• https://action.deloitte.com/insight/2358/prestige-leadership-is-no-magic-trick-its-a-key-to-effective-teams

Recommended Episodes about Leadership in tech

• Navigating Digital Change by Leaning Into Tech and Expanding a Human Touch with Agathe Daae-Qvale
• Listening to the Pulse in Leadership: Nourishing Realistic Expectations and Intentionally Catalyzing Employee and Team Growth with Clint Calleja

• Listening to Create #Customer and #Business Value with Teresa Torres

• Dynamic Reteaming: Mastering Team Change for Excellence Using Your Listening Muscle with Heidi Helfand

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• https://listeningalchemy.com/
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn: Raquel Ark https://www.linkedin.com/in/raquel-ark-b2067613/

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How can the power of empathy create deeper connections with others? And what are work hacks that create a safe space in teams?

Sebastian Kremser is the host of Empathie Schenker, a podcast where he listens to guests with empathy and no judgment. Sebastian is a process facilitator who helps clients navigate dynamic and complex environments, addressing both current and future challenges. Known for his empathetic and needs-oriented approach, he creates space for individual and organizational needs while fostering awareness of personal responsibility and potential through structured process guidance.

After 12 years in the military, Sebastian transitioned in 2013 to become a consultant and coach, focusing on supporting organizations ranging from hierarchical public institutions to agile, collaborative structures.

He is an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) with the International Coach Federation (ICF) and a licensed mediator with the German Mediation Association. His work has taken him to China and Kenya, and he is also an authorized process consultant for the "unternehmensWert: Mensch" program of the German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.

In this episode, Sebastian shares his journey with empathy and listening, highlighting the power of self-empathy and creating space for others to shine. We dive deep into the importance of non-judgmental listening and how it can transform team dynamics and relationships.

Sebastian's insights on self-awareness, shared leadership, and the magic of letting your light shine are truly inspiring. His perspective on creating a safe space for authentic communication and appreciation is a game-changer for building strong connections within teams and organizations.

If you're looking to enhance your listening skills, gain a new perspective on empathy, or simply enjoy a thoughtful conversation, this episode is a must-listen.

“...there's a difference between listening and being a listener." - Sebastian Kremser

SUPERPOWER Notes:

• 01:19 - From complexity to clarity: Sebastian discusses the journey from complexity to clarity in communication and the importance of listening to create understanding and connection.
• 08:43 - The power of nonviolent communication: Sebastian shares insights on the power of nonviolent communication in resolving conflicts and fostering understanding in teams and organizations.
• 11:33 - The alchemy of listening: Sebastian delves into the transformative power of listening, creating a space for empathy, understanding, and trust to flourish in interactions.
• 20:47 - The conversation highlights the impact of a lack of motivation in teams and the importance of addressing underlying issues to foster engagement and productivity.
• 23:31 - Flip-flopping topics in meetings: Sebastian discusses the strategy of addressing various topics in team meetings to ensure all voices are heard and to maintain focus and productivity.
• 40301 - The discussion centers on the transformative power of opening up and sharing vulnerabilities, leading to deeper connections, trust, and personal growth within teams and organizations.
• 42:43 - Embracing Each Other's Light: Sebastian shares insights on embracing and celebrating each other's unique strengths and qualities, creating a supportive and inclusive environment where individuals can shine and contribute authentically.
• 46:42 - Just be you in the moment: The conversation concludes with a reminder to embrace authenticity and self-expression, encouraging individuals to be true to themselves and explore their unique contributions in every moment.

Key Takeaways:

“If we listen to each other, we help the other person to get more clarity." - Sebastian Kremser

"Being non-judgmental in listening is like opening a gate to deeper connections. It's the alchemy of empathy." - Sebastian Kremser

People Mentioned:

• Vera F. Birkenbihl - Famous German communication scientist and trainer

Connect with Sebastian Kremser:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastian-kremser
• Podcast: Empathie Schenker on Apple Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/empathieschenker/id1598578900
• https://in-teams.de/ueber-mich/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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Many organizations struggle to balance technical project demands with the human elements essential for successful change. This gap often leads to inefficiencies, low morale, and failed initiatives, despite thorough planning and structured processes. Ignoring the emotional aspects of teams prevents companies from unlocking their workforce's full potential. Integrating both technical and human sides of work, with a focus on consistent communication and emotional awareness, is crucial. Enabling this holistic approach helps organizations achieve dynamic processes that meet goals and foster a joyful, productive work environment.

Agathe Daae-Qvale is an Integral Master Coach™ working in leadership development that focuses on both the human and tech sides of digital transformation. She works as a special advisor in the Norwegian public health care sector on new software technologies and their successful applications.

In 2017, she founded TinkerBlue AS and later co-founded DoubleYou AS in an effort to unleash underused tech potential and skill sets among internationals in Norway.

Agathe is proficient in industrial IT and process modeling and improvement, IT governance, IT strategy, IT operations, and product management.

Her experience includes working with management consulting companies like EY, KPMG, and Sopra Steria. She has worked as a consulting director in the exhilarating growth phase of the industrial IT unicorn Cognite, which primarily focuses on industrial data and digitized product management. She has also served as Chief Development Officer for Cenium, responsible for product development and global distribution during the shift from local based to cloud based platform technology.

​In this episode Agathe shares insightful discussions on balancing the technical and human aspects of business, especially during times of change. She talks about her experiences and practical strategies for integrating emotional awareness into structured, technical environments. You'll also learn about the importance of consistent communication, the role of personal growth in effective change management, and how to motivate teams by recognizing and expanding their perceptions of possibilities.

"For change to happen, raise the awareness of possibilities --- that space of possibilities is crucial." - Agathe Daae-Qvale

SUPERPOWER Notes:

01:21 - What she realized the time she first noticed the power of listening: It was not only about the words but very much about the sentiment and the capacity of both of us to open up for in that very moment

04:08 - What it means to be in a shared space: That moment when you are in a conversation; you're just completely paying attention to what's going on there

08:00 - The distinction between merely getting the work done and creating a meaningful, emotionally resonant shared space

17:10 - The crucial integration of human change management with technical change

21:21 - How creating a shared understanding and clear purpose within the organization is crucial for the successful adoption and implementation of new technologies and changes

25:16 - Here's how to achieve a shared understanding: The organization needs to be well aligned both vertically and horizontally.

29:07 - Achieve vertical and horizontal alignment in an organization: Important to give everyone a shared direction and the why as to what they're doing.

32:54 - What does effective change management require: In addition to communication, skill sets and competence in the company among coworkers and staff is super important.

37:56 - Making that lasting change and effect happen: Value, moral and a sense of entrepreneurship are also needed to make that lasting effect happen.

42:54 - Helpful tools for navigating change effectively: It's about listening to, first, myself and then start listening to others around me.

45:33 - Moving past the resistance in others: Have the respect for self and others and have them to focus on an outcome.

52:40 - Agathe's inspiring words: Keep opening up that space to keep expanding that shared space.

Key Takeaways:

"When we make change happen in technology, you can never go beyond what people actually perceive and what the masses perceive." - Agathe Daae-Qvale

"I do think that the human side of change is not only a success factor, but it's a floor on which technical change stands most of the time." - Agathe Daae-Qvale

"I do believe that the leadership is where to start [to get to that shared understanding] and then create an infrastructure and a team that can have the capacity and ability to make that happen, to follow up, to follow through with it." - Agathe Daae-Qvale

"I realize that we all catch what we can according to our own skill sets, but if you want an organization to change the way they work or to change the products and services, it's super important to start with that education of people." - Agathe Daae-Qvale

"The self is very often considered individual. If we are in a team, that sense of self, we can share that in a group. Then it becomes so much more powerful." - Agathe Daae-Qvale

Notes/Mentions:

• Terri O'Fallon: https://www.terriofallon.com
• Robert Kegan:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kegan

Connect with Agathe Daae-Qvale:

• Website: https://www.digitizedproductmanagement.com/about

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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Do you find yourself struggling to navigate through the storms of life, both personally and professionally? It's easy to get lost amidst the distractions and challenges, leaving us feeling disconnected and unfulfilled. But there is a way to find clarity amidst the chaos: by listening to the voice of our own intuition and harnessing our inner strength to overcome any obstacle.

Dubbed "the da Vinci of Visionary Leadership" by many leading authorities of our time, Oleg Konovalov is the author of The Fisherman's Path to Leadership, The Vision Code, LEADEROLOGY, CORPORATE SUPERPOWER, ORGANISATIONAL ANATOMY, and HIDDEN RUSSIA. Oleg sees every organization as unique and strongly believes that most leadership problems can be solved by shifting patterned paradigms and applying tailor-made solutions. He is on the Thinkers50 Radar, was shortlisted for the Leadership Award at Thinkers50 2021, is among the Global Gurus Top 30 in Leadership, and is the #1 Global Leading Coach (Marshall Goldsmith Thinkers50).

In this episode, we explore the importance of creating value in business and how energy management often trumps time management. Oleg shares deep insights from his listening experiences and discusses the difference between inspiration and motivation. We also touch on 'cognitive distance' listening within parent-child dynamics, the concept of 'becoming the storm' to face challenges, and the distinction between wisdom and smartness. Join us as we journey through Oleg's wisdom, drawn from his book The Fisherman's Path to Leadership, and learn to celebrate moments of understanding and empowerment.

"You must listen to yourself first, not to your worries, but listen to your desires. Listen to what you can do. Listen to what you could reveal within your strengths, your superpower. Then you become stronger than this storm that you are facing now." - Oleg Konovalov

SUPERPOWER Notes:

00:44 - That moment he first noticed the power of listening: When you're trying to understand who you are, you are listening to yourself.

04:25 - How valuable is feedback: It's not about what they will get, it's about what they will hear; how they will listen.

09:02 - A simple approach in life and business that always works for Oleg: Business is about creating value, not solving problems.

11:14 - Deep insights from Oleg's listening experiences

15:48 - Why it is all about energy management and not time management

19:31 - Differentiating inspiration from motivation and getting people to listen to you

23:06 - Understanding 'cognitive distance' listening and tying it to a parent-child relationship

29:59 - What it means to be 'becoming the storm' and not just facing the storm: You are stronger than the challenges that you are facing.

34:37 - What differentiates being wise from being smart: Smartness is definitely not a superpower; wisdom is.

35:38 - Valuable nuggets from his book: The Fisherman's Path to Leadership

37:48 - Important questions to ask yourself and the cost of not listening well to yourself

43:10 - Celebrating significant moments of understanding and empowerment in life, regardless of specific dates or occasions.

45:23 - How we see each other's role means how we listen to each other

48:00 - Relevant question to ask of oneself: How to understand that you are really listening

50:20 - Deep thoughts on the idea of growth

Key Takeaways:

"If you are setting up a startup…the best way to find your best niche is to sit and listen to a market." - Oleg Konovalov

"You're learning to listen when you understand you know nothing." - Oleg Konovalov

"People that don't know where to go, they're not asking for feedback, they're already lost. But people who are clear where they want to be, they're asking for feedback and listening to it because it's very valuable for them." - Oleg Konovalov

"It's not a matter of how many things I could do, it's about how good I could do one or two things and putting all my effort, all my energy into it." - Oleg Konovalov

"If you are a source of energy, you're creating something tremendous, like a great vision, for business or personal life. And that vision inspires you in return and you inspire others." - Oleg Konovalov

"If a leader is a pretender, people feel that and they don't listen to him or their message." - Oleg Konovalov

"Don't listen to the threats; listen to your strengths." - Oleg Konovalov

"You are looking into what you can do, but the majority of people, unfortunately, are thinking about storms as an excuse not to do something." - Oleg Konovalov

"If I would love to be better as a personality, I must listen."- Oleg Konovalov

"Noise attracts attention, quiet voices open hearts. But you must be prepared for that quiet voice to listen to it." - Oleg Konovalov

Notes/Mentions:

• The Fisherman's Path to Leadership by Oleg Konovalov: https://www.olegkonovalov.com/author/

Connect with Oleg Konovalov:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-oleg-konovalov/
• Website: http://olegkonovalov.com/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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In the workplace, we encounter various personalities, some more challenging than others. Traits like narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy among colleagues or leaders can significantly impact workplace dynamics, leading to conflicts, manipulation, and toxicity within teams. Recognizing and understanding these traits can help you navigate such environments more effectively.

Meet our guest, Jon Gruda, a Professor in Organizational Behavior who specializes in anxiety, leadership, and personality research. He discusses how to identify characteristics of the Dark Triad and shares strategies on how to manage interactions with these individuals.

Jon Gruda is a lifelong learner with impressive credentials. He holds a PhD in Management from emlyon business school, a Doctorate in Psychology from Goethe University, and an MSc in Affective Neuroscience from Maastricht University, alongside several business and management degrees. Throughout his academic career, Jon has consulted organizational leaders and CEOs, and has taught over 10,000 students and early career executives across Europe.

Jon's mission is to advance the understanding of human behavior in organizations, helping individuals and teams achieve their potential and well-being. He has published over 20 papers in peer-reviewed journals and frequently contributes to various media outlets, sharing his expertise with a wider audience.

In this episode, we delve into the concept of the Dark Triad. Jon provides valuable insights into recognizing and navigating challenging personality traits such as narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy in the workplace. By shedding light on these traits and their potential impact on organizational dynamics, Jon offers strategies to identify such behaviors and build support networks within your workplace. He also emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and proactive approaches to managing interactions with individuals exhibiting these traits, helping you thrive in complex work environments

"Don't become the person that you don't want to be." - Jon Gruda

SUPERPOWER Notes:

00:32 - That moment he noticed the power of listening: Talking to students and not just teaching, but having conversations.

01:42 - How listening impacts not just the mind but one's whole being

04:52 - One significant moment where a student shared a personal experience which became a driving force to do his work.

11:58 - Understanding the 'Dark Triad': Narcissism, Machiavellianism, Psychopathy

21:50 - How to recognize narcissistic traits in the workplace and get them to listen: Structure team meetings to have a lot more prep time upfront

33:55 - Spotting manipulation and deceit and what you should do: Approach them with clear, logical arguments and past evidence

47:00 - Recognizing a psychopath and how to effectively deal with them

56:25 - Crucial points of concern for organization with individuals having 'dark traits'

59:00 - Helpful strategies you can employ across all these 'dark traits'

01:05:50 - The idea that everyone exhibits 'dark traits' and understanding that some score higher on these traits than others.

01:09:50 - What characterizes a machiavellian

01:12 :30 - How to get in touch with Jon

Key Takeaways:

"The only way to listen is to create an environment where people are actually willing to share." - Jon Gruda

"If you want them to go with the decision that you want to make, that you know is the best decision for the team, then you need to highlight how this decision that you want the leader to take is mutually beneficial." - Jon Gruda

"Choosing the right moment when to approach them [psychopath leader]. Look for moments when the leader is particularly receptive to your input, directly following a public success." - Jon Gruda

"I don't necessarily agree with the phrasing, but it does resonate well when you're dealing with psychopaths: Be Machiavellian."- Jon Gruda

"Listen to yourself. " - Jon Gruda

"Pretty good advice that I've learned from clients and from executives that I had to deal with: build a support network." - Jon Gruda

"Knowing why people do what they do in any given situation is really, really powerful because it makes you a better person." - Jon Gruda

Notes/Mentions:

• Dark Triad by Jon Gruda: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IFRqJon-bEhynUMhSBowdC78HA_gNHpw-7nKRKTwJ1g/edit

Connect with Jon Gruda:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jongruda/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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It's easy to feel drowned out, overlooked, or even silenced amidst the clamor of opinions and power plays. But what if, amid this chaos, we dared to pause and embrace a far reaching act—the profound power of listening?

Imagine a world where instead of engaging in heated debates, we develop genuine, attentive listening. Not merely hearing words, but understanding the deeper nuances of human interaction and connection, even when on the surface, it seems to be only about the money.

My guest on your SUPERPOWER listening podcast, Peter Yaholkovsky, has an extensive background in the linguistic foundations of trust and communication, having studied and worked with Dr. Fernando Flores since the 1980's and being certified by the Strozzi Institute as a Master Somatic Coach. Over the past three decades, Peter has coached families and executive teams in building and restoring trust. Prior to his consulting career, Peter practiced Internal Medicine as a Board Certified Internist after graduating from Stanford University and UC Davis Medical School. His recently published book, Listening for Candor, illuminates a path for trust conversations by building a shared sense of what matters.

Looking back, he sees the through-line is communication -- wrapping around trust as trust wraps around 'what really matters' -- which comes down to commitment and responsibility. He shares examples about how to deal with what matters to you, me, and us together. The question is: how do we build a ‘we’ with substance?

In this episode, Peter shares how to pause and truly listen, recognizing what truly matters so that “we” can move forward and work together towards shared goals. .

"Possibilities start taking shape, all built from what matters and what's important to pay attention to." - Peter Yaholkovsky

SUPERPOWER Notes:

02:25 - That moment he noticed the power of listening: In the early eighties when I became engaged with what communication is and the various commitments we make in speaking.

11:38 - What he would tell his younger self now as a medical practitioner back then.

17:18 - How listening interplays with power: Always listen for what matters.

26:16 - Consciously designing conversations: It is helpful to understand the difference between a statement of facts and an interpretation.

28:32 - How to argue with opinions: Find a way to move together into the future.

33:57 - Getting your voice heard amidst power plays: Get everybody lined up with what matters.

37:57 - Big difference between operational versus personal relationship

44:09 - Peter's inspiration to write his book, Listening for Candor

52:21 - Where you can get a copy of 'Listening for Candor'

Key Takeaways:

"Listening is not like an algorithm. It is a discovery of information that then makes a decision going this way or that." - Peter Yaholkovsky

"Listening is connecting with the world,…the aspirations, the possibilities, the constraints of the other, and moving together to orient them for going forward." - Peter Yaholkovsky

"When listening, I'm looking at the interplay of relationships, concerns, engagement, commitment, and what's the underlying overlying big deal, hardly ever spoken -- trust." - Peter Yaholkovsky

"If you're listening for what matters and what matters is I protect myself, or what matters is I'm right. That's not headed for building trust." - Peter Yaholkovsky

"Listening is not just receiving information. Listening is an engagement with the intention of another." - Peter Yaholkovsky

Notes/Mentions:

• Listening for Candor: Building Trust in Relationships that Matter by Peter Yaholkovsky: https://www.amazon.com/Listening-Candor-Building-Relationships-Matter-ebook/

Connect with Peter Yaholkovsky:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-yaholkovsky/
• Website: https://www.peter-yaholkovsky.com/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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How often do you catch yourself merely waiting for your turn to respond, not really noticing or even caring about what the other person is trying to communicate. This reactive mode of communication often stifles genuine expression, preventing us from fully emptying our thoughts and emotions. Consequently, a lack of authentic listening extends to various facets of our lives, from family dynamics to professional environments, hindering meaningful connections and triggering misunderstandings. Author of Better Listening, Stan Slovin has worked over 30 years in the securities industry with individuals, families, and business owners as a financial professional with major national brokerage firms. Stan earned his bachelor of science degree in finance at the Champaign- Urbana campus of the University of Illinois. He also holds a Juris doctorate from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law. Stan is actively involved in charitable organizations focusing on mental health and children with disabilities. He loves traveling and plays in a rock and roll band. Stan, his wife, and their two adult children are from the Chicago area.

In this episode, Stan talks about how empathy and genuine engagement can create safe spaces for authentic expression, both in personal relationships and professional environments. And he shares stories on how this paves the way for more meaningful conversations and discussions.

"When others see that you are listening, not only will they appreciate it but you'll appreciate that they appreciate it and you'll be happier." - Stan Slovin

Listening SUPERPOWER Notes:

00:30 - That moment he noticed the power of listening: I've recognized this my whole life with my parents, at school and in the area of sales and advisory.

01:56 - Stan's aha moment about listening: We are actually listening to respond versus listening to understand.

04:15 - What is so important about leadership: Great leaders are the best listeners.

06:15 - A different approach to listening brought about by change

09:08 - The need to shift from transactional to empathetic listening

14:00 - What helps to improve productivity and retention at work: Leaders have to enable their employees to give feedback.

17:21 - The premise behind the title of his book, 'Better Listening'

20:54 - Life experiences showing how important empathy is in listening

23:57 - What 'emptying of bucket' as a result of empathy all boils down to: Allowing a person to go deeper instead of a surface response.

26:28 - The 'golden ticket question' you can use at work: What is most important to you with regard to a relationship with working with X?

30:24 - What Stan wants to see in a podcast interview and what relationship he wants to have with the host: What's important to me are open-ended questions.

33:12 - A deeper message he wants to share in his book: I want relationships to be better in terms of respect, of being considerate of others.

36:51 - The importance of fostering better relationships through better listening.

40:14 - Stan's most encouraging parting words: We're all good listeners; but we could all be better listeners.

Key Takeaways:

"To be a good leader you have to be a good listener." - Stan Slovin

"Why does a relationship leave? It was that they believed that you were not listening to them. you didn't have their best interest because you weren't hearing what they were saying. You were just always talking." - Stan Slovin

"People are crying to be heard.They want others to listen to them." - Stan Slovin

"Leaders don't have to change everything; they just have to tweak a little bit." - Stan Slovin

"Everyone could be a better listener because what's missing in the conversation is that we're not allowing that empathy piece to really play a key role." - Stan Slovin

"Empathy is key in listening." - Stan Slovin

"They don't have to agree with the person that's talking, but they should at least pause and listen to hear. So that there is mutual respect and consideration so that the relationship. Even though it may not come to an agreement, they could still remain being invited to the thanksgiving dinner." - Stan Slovin

Notes/ Mentions:

• Better Listening by Stan Slovin: https://www.betterlisteningbook.com

Connect with Stan Slovin:

• Website: https://www.betterlisteningbook.com

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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It's easy to overlook the power of listening to and reflecting on the pulse of the team, encouraging genuine connection and understanding. Before moving ahead towards our goals, why not take a moment to take a pulse of the collective team energy, ensuring alignment and fostering a more empathetic environment?

As the Director of Engineering at Hotjar, Clint Calleja leads the engineering teams for the core features tribes, overseeing the development and delivery of web applications that help over 900,000 websites in 180+ countries understand and improve their user experience. With more than 16 years of experience, he has a proven track record of aligning, inspiring, and enabling others to succeed through communication, coaching, mentoring, and empowerment.

He uses a people-first, servant leadership approach and a data-driven, outcome-oriented mindset to guide teams and the organization towards achieving their goals and vision. His mission is to leverage his expertise in web applications, software development, and engineering leadership to create value for Hotjar's customers, employees, and shareholders.

In this episode, Clint shares how embracing vulnerability isn't a weakness; it's a strength that deepens bonds and accelerates progress. Working for a remote and fully distributed company, he explains the challenges of written communication and how he listens and aligns understanding. He also shares practical tools he uses to listen to the pulse of his teams that might surprise you. Enjoy this very insightful and practical episode of the listening SUPERPOWER podcast.

“By slowing down, digesting communication, and leading with authenticity, we not only achieve lasting results but also cultivate a more humane and fulfilling experience for all involved."- Clint Calleja

SUPERPOWER Notes:

00:38 - The moment he first noticed the power of listening: When someone was seeing me as a human being, being part of a team of people rather than just an employee.

02:47 - Important perspective on this idea of 'bringing your whole self to work'

05:02 - His approach to leading a team: I listen and I try to navigate between how many solutions I try to provide versus how much coaching and questioning and just nudging.

08:18 - Start the day with a simple pulse: We need to start with setting our self expectations.

14:07 - It's okay to be vulnerable: The best way I can do that is to be transparent.

14:59 - What his younger self needs to know early on as he looks back in hindsight

15:53 - A coaching approach he uses to manage multiple teams: I'm going to make myself available, I'll be able to listen, and I'll be able to work with the individual.

20:45 - Tools he uses that supports listening even with people working remotely: What I found really helpful is journaling.

27:46 - How he organizes the observations he gathers from listening: It has to be quick; it's a simple checklist for tasks and a checklist for observations.

33:11 - Perspective on how to approach feedback: It is a mindset change.

35:51 - Examples of how he executes his feedback process

39:01 - Advice to young generation leaders: I like to personally focus more on growth rather than promotions.

45:54 - The challenge to listening to written communication: You don’t have much visibility on the emotion

47:48 - Explaining the concept of JOMO [Joy of Missing Out]

49:30 - The wisdom you find in asking question when in doubt

52:28 - Clint's significant message: "...that investment overtime accrues to much quicker decision-making, much more empowered people growing into leads..."

Key Takeaways:

"Before we decide what we are trying to achieve today, before we understand how much time we have on the way, let's start with a simple pulse: green, yellow, or red." - Clint Calleja

"I keep reminding myself from time to time that it's okay to be vulnerable, especially with people you're working for." - Clint Calleja

"I feel I need to know much less than I expected myself to in order to help people grow." - Clint Calleja

"I apply the feedback on strengths that I observe, so it becomes more of an opportunity rather than a thing you're doing wrong." - Clint Calleja

"There's power through connecting with people." - Clint Calleja

Notes/Mentions:

• Obsidian: https://obsidian.md

Connect with Clint Calleja:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/callejaclint/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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Navigating leadership authentically and self-care is not as easy, especially when it seems like everything around you is “crashing down”. Yet, what if this is an opportunity to find your purpose? Discover the power of listening in purpose-lead leadership through this thought-provoking podcast episode.

Dive into a reflective conversation about the importance of being present, self-care, purpose, and trusting the process. Explore the journey of a working dad, leadership principles, and the impact of listening on personal and professional growth.

In this episode,you will enjoy listening to how Benjamin ‘Benny’ Achenbach has navigated the challenges of entrepreneurship. He shares a story about how he learned to listen to his inner voice amidst a family crisis that wiped his slate clean. Benny is a sports enthusiast, a proud father of three, and the vice President of People & Culture at Just Spices GmbH .

Benny shares his experience around heart led leadership and decision making. Not only do we talk about fostering inclusive workplace cultures, our conversation transcends business by exploring resilience, self-awareness, and the pursuit of happiness.

Enjoy listening in.

"All leaders should be empathetic, and at the same time, capable of at least trying to actively listen” - Benjamin ‘Benny’ Achenbach

SUPERPOWER Notes:

01:22 - Raquel and Benny’s post-Wim Hof Expedition chance encounter. Reflecting on a serendipitous meeting that sparked a unique friendship and a transformative journey towards active listening mastery

03:09 - Uncover the power of reflection and connection in anchoring transformative experiences through active listening and shared reflections

06:14 - Explore the transformative power of active listening in personal growth and communication, leading to deeper connections and understanding in relationships.

10:28 - The backpack method for reflection, delve into the art of active listening and the power of silencing distractions to truly engage and connect with others.

11:57 - Intention setting and reflecting on daily actions, uncover the hidden truths behind common social interactions and the power of active listening in fostering genuine connections.

17:05 - Benny’s journey to Vice President of People and Culture 20:09 - Overcoming family business challenges 29:04 - The role of reflection and falling forward in business 34:26 - Trusting the process and maintaining positivity 40:29 - Integrating listening into business practices, thoughts on being present, reflecting, and self-care 53:22 - How to connect with the Benjamin Achenbach

Key Takeaways

• "Try to be there for yourself because when you are there for yourself, you can also be caring for others."- Benjamin Achenbach
• "Reflect about what you're doing every day, every second, every minute, every hour, the entire day, until your entire life is done."- Benjamin Achenbach
• “Have a clear North Star for yourself and your team. It's about believing in the vision for the next five to ten years. For us at Just Spices, it's about going international and making cooking easier for our customers. This should be at the forefront of your mind. "- Benjamin Achenbach
• on Listening “The more you are in the present moment and appreciate and be grateful for this journey in life, the more magical it can be." - Benjamin Achenbach

Connect with Benjamin Achenbach:

• Linkedin: Benjamin Achenbach
• Just Spices Website: https://www.justspices.de/
• WorkingDad Podcast :https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/working-dad-podcast/id1479570002

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Instagram: @listening_alchemy
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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Conflicts can cause major stress on your relationships and your wellbeing. And often it's hard to put your finger on what just happened or why the same thing keeps happening.

What if in that moment of chaos, when you feel overwhelmed or frustrated, listening could be your answer to breaking unhealthy communication patterns. In this episode of your listening SUPERPOWER podcast, we do a deep dive into how listening to our subconscious patterns and limiting beliefs can impact how we communicate at work and at home.

My guest Thais Gibson, the creator of the Gibson Integrated Attachment Theory™, gives us insight on how our subconscious patterns impact how we make meaning about ourselves and how this impacts how we communicate.

Her innovative framework unites traditional attachment theory, developmental psychology insights, and the potent subconscious reprogramming techniques. She shares stories about how subconscious patterns can be managed for healthier relationships, and she gives us practical tips on expressing our needs, setting boundaries and on fostering connection.

Thais has nearly a decade of experience running a successful private practice. She also has a diverse experience in modalities such as CBT, NLP, somatic experiencing internal family systems and shadow work. And this has influenced the Personal Development School, which is her educational platform that integrates an innovative coaching training program, which is based on the integrated attachment theory framework.

Enjoy this episode of your listening SUPERPOWER podcast where Thais shares frameworks that can help you notice how listening is impacted by your subconscious patterns and what can do about it, also in the business world.

Let’s listen in.

A Gift from You from Thais and Raquel:

Sign up for 40% off of the regular Personal Development School All Access Pass.

Enroll through this link

listening SUPERPOWER notes:

03:18 - The power of listening in childhood and its impact on adulthood 04:38 - Coping with chaos through Listening 07:39 - Impact of childhood experiences. importance of being present and listening in relationships 09:13 - Healing through listening. The impact of childhood experiences on adult relationships 12:41 - Resolving conflict through understanding, strategies for validating feelings and resolving conflicts 15:11 - Uncovering underlying wounds. The stages of relationships and navigating through them, both at home and at work. 16:13 - Childhood roots of adult patterns 20:08 - Impact of past experiences on present reactions 21:40 - Overcoming fear of giving feedback 24:56 - Shifting subconscious behaviors 25:28 - Reflections on business growth. Applying techniques to help team members with core wounds in the workplace 29:15 - Building trust and relationships 40:29 - Empowering others through positive reinforcement, Thais recommended resources for personal development and daily content on YouTube

Key Takeaways:

"...the power of listening is something that not only calms people but helps…become a mirror into people as well." - Thais Gibson

"(In conflict)...often we talk about superficial things. But if we get more present and we investigate a little bit further, it's really these underlying wounds that we're feeling." - Thais Gibson

"Hard things are there to actually level us up to the next stage of who we're about to become." - Thais Gibson

Connect with Thais Gibson

• Website: https://university.personaldevelopmentschool.com/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThePersonalDevelopmentSchool
• Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thaisgibson
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepersonaldevelopmentschool/
• Book: Learning Love: Build the Best Relationships of Your Life Using Integrated Attachment Theory https://www.amazon.com/Learning-Love-Relationship-Integrated-Attachment/dp/B0CFGFV5CH?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=learning-love&utm_id=learning-love
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thais-gibson-4543ba190/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com
• IG Listening_Alchemy

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Imagine sitting in a chair looking into a camera and being seen in a new way that feels like complete belonging. And even though it's new, it's like it has always been there. It's always been you.

Our guest filmmaker Nic Askew, shares a simple, yet profound way to experience listening, and his method may surprise you.

He is the creator of Soul biographies, which includes the search for the Soul of America. His unique interview method is a profound way to witness the human soul. This is an experience where you feel interconnected, belonging and have conscious insight. Nic shares his stories about how he uses film and works with individuals and groups.

Nic describes his work…“so that we might see ourselves reflected in each other so that we

might see beyond all differences, so that we might come to remember that we belong to each

other without condition, and act accordingly.”

Enjoy listening to this unique episode where we dive into nothingness so that something can emerge.

“The business of a witness, we might call it a listener as well, is really not to get in the way. And it starts with nothing, no- thing, no act on your part. And then let the experience just happen.” - Nic Askew

SUPERPOWER Notes:

02:39 - That moment he discovered the power of listening: Everything starts out of silence

11:10 - Expounding on the misconception about the nature of connectedness

16:06 - Giving yourself permission to simply be and embracing nothingness and just letting the experience happen

21:01: Getting to notice the experience of the absence of one's action: It sets a course of change which you can't unset.

28:53 - What it is like experiencing someone without doing anything

37:47 - How deep listening happens from a clear space

41:25 - Personal experiences of having something emerge out of doing nothing

46:15 - The simplicity of being present and the potential for profound change that arises from this state.

55:26 - Connect with Nic Askew

Key Takeaways:

"The experience of this person, the experience of anyone you care to sit with or be with is best finding you, not you it." - Nic Askew

"Connectedness just exists. It's there to be experienced. And the way to experience it is nothing in the way." - Nic Askew

"Most people, I think, are driven by this deep sense of wanting to belong, wanting to be a part of it. And it drives us to pretty much live our lives doing certain things But the irony is that in the

realm of the interior world, there is no working towards. Only "Just IS". You are just a part of it. We are connected. You belong. There was never any condition." - Nic Askew

Notes/Mentions:

• Albert Einstein: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein
• Ramana Maharshi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramana_Maharshi

Connect with Nic Askew:

• Website: https://soulbiographies.com/about/

https://nicaskew.com/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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It's easy to lose touch with our true selves in a world that constantly bombards us with external noise and expectations. We often find ourselves seeking validation and approval from others, forgetting that the most important voice to listen to is our own.

Revealing our identities and embracing our unique qualities can be a transformative experience. It's about recognizing that we don't need to add anything or strive to be something we're not. We already are 100% enough, just as we are.

So why do we hesitate? Why do we hold back from presenting our authentic selves to the world? Perhaps it's the fear of judgment or the belief that we're still lacking in some way. But the truth is, we don't need anything else. We have everything we need within us to shine brightly.

Dr. Katja Brunkhorst is a Human Disco Ball, with the following facets of serious serial expertise: Writer | Coach | Yoga Teacher | Punk Rock Philosopher | Personal Branding Strategist | Founder of Bright Idea, the agency for authentic communication & creative consulting. Her zone of genius is short-form poetic profitable prose for women entrepreneurs who want to move the world with moving words.

In this episode, Katja helps us explore the power of self-listening and the journey towards self-acceptance. Embark on a path of self-discovery, where you'll learn to trust yourself, honor your truth, and live authentically.

"Trust yourself; listen to yourself from the beginning, because, otherwise, you'll just spend your whole professional career trying to get rid of unnecessary layers." - Katja Brunkhorst

SUPERPOWER Notes:

00:44 - That moment she discovers the power of listening: In my family, I very much remember not being listened to; the realization that people need to listen to each other for the world to thrive.

02:13 - How her experience of not being listened to made her hide her true self

05:39 - The empowering spirit that comes when you feel listened to even when you are silent

06:16 - How two people can connect deeply, not necessarily verbally: Making music with other people, through the sounds, I think you can communicate and hear each other on a deeper level.

08:18 - Attributing to the sound side of yoga in finding her new identity: To sing a mantra together, combining it with a certain intention, and sometimes as simple as just a certain hand movement.

11:37 - Experiencing the fear of not being listened to

14:02 - Discussing the case of a “not listening mom”: The trick is to try and let go of that good girl, people-pleasing, perfectionist side.

16:41 - How to start listening: Listen to yourself.

21:12 - Writing techniques to get you into the natural flow of doing it

23:35 - Another writing technique she recommends: Recollection in Tranquility

30:35 - A mantra you can use cutting through the fear of not being promoted or not being seen and appreciated for your good deeds

34:07 - One significant melodious message Katja shares: Follow the joy.

Key Takeaways:

"The voice is the most personal part of us; there resides your personality." - Katja Brunkhorst

"To be really able to listen, you have to have someone who is very safe and secure in themselves." - Katja Brunkhorst

"Listen to yourself. In order to write well, and write copy or books or any sort of text that connects, you need to first connect with you again." - Katja Brunkhorst

"My claim has always been revealing identities. I don't want you to add anything that you think you're still missing or think you're still not good enough." - Katja Brunkhorst

"This is a message from a Yoga philosophy, "You are exactly as you are; already 100% enough." - Katja Brunkhorst

“You can just be you and literally present that to the world. You don't need anything else. This is going to make your life much, much easier and your success to come along much, much, much faster. Other than spending the rest of your life unlearning and stripping off and revealing." - Katja Brunkhorst

Notes/Mentions:

• Confessions of an English Opium-Eater: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confessions_of_an_English_Opium-Eater

Connect with Katja Brunkhorst:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bright_idea_kat/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bright-idea-katja-brunkhorst/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wortdompteurin/?ref=hl

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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Are you ready to take your organization to the next level? When you decide to shift your time and resources towards systems, tools and processes for organizational listening to effectively listen to stakeholders, you will have impressive benefits that may surprise you. Be the pioneer.

Jim Macnamara, a pioneer in listening research and Distinguished Professor of Public Communication in the School of Communication at the University of Technology Sydney, returned to your listening SUPERPOWER Podcast to share incredible insights from his latest book, "Organizational Listening II: Expanding the Concept, Theory, and Practice," published by Peter Lang.

Jim Macnamara is internationally recognized as a leader in evaluation of public communication and for his pioneering studies into organizational listening. He is the author of 16 books and almost 100 book chapters and journal articles and a sought-after keynote speaker.

In this episode, Jim discusses the surprising lack of listening from governments and organizations, particularly towards employees and marginalized communities. He highlights the importance of listening at scale, as well as to the silent voices.

Jim also explores the importance of organizational listening in driving better engagement, trust, and innovation. He shares examples of companies that have successfully implemented listening practices, such as employee-designed products and customer councils.

Contrary to the misconception that listening requires more time and resources, Jim explains that organizations can achieve better results by reducing excessive information output and talking and instead focusing on effective listening. He emphasizes the benefits of listening, including improved employee retention, productivity, and reputation.

Throughout the episode, Jim emphasizes the communicative act of listening and the consequences of not listening. He encourages leaders to prioritize listening and engage in true consultation with employees and stakeholders.

To learn more about organizational listening, you can check out Jim Macnamara's new book, "Organizational Listening: Expanding the Concept, Theory, and Practice," published by Peter Lang.

"Listening is not just a passive waiting time, it is a communicative act. And not listening is a communicative act as well." - Jim Macnamara

SUPERPOWER Notes:

• 00:03:04 - Jim Macnamara discusses his research and the surprising lack of listening during the COVID-19 pandemic and the disappointment in the lack of change in organizations and governments.
• 00:06:33 - The importance of listening in organizations and the need for leaders to understand the needs and perspectives of their employees and customers.
• 00:08:42 - Introduction to Jim Macnamara 's new book, "Organizational Listening 2: Expanding the Concept, Theory, and Practice," which includes new research and contributions from other academics in the field.
• 00:13:57 - The challenge of listening to a large number of stakeholders and the need for outreach and engagement with diverse groups.
• 00:18:14 - Examples of organizations that have successfully implemented listening practices, such as innovation competitions and customer councils.
• 00:20:38 - The misconception that listening is a burden or cost for organizations, and the need to shift the focus to the benefits and opportunities it brings.
• 00:29:09 - Addressing the time and resource concerns of implementing listening practices by reducing ineffective communication and substituting it with listening efforts.
• 00:32:22 - The sliding scale of listening and communication, with the understanding that there are times when transmitting information is necessary, but overall, communication should involve listening and exchange.
• 00:35:25 - The communicative act of not listening and the importance of listening in building relationships and trust.
• 00:35:48 - The concept of organizational listening and the need for systems, tools, and processes to effectively listen to stakeholders.
• 00:38:44 - Connect with Jim Macnamara and where to find his book, "Organizational Listening 2: Expanding the Concept, Theory, and Practice."

Resources mentioned:

• Book: "Organizational Listening 2: Expanding the Concept, Theory and Practice" by Jim Macnamara
• International Academic Publisher: Peter Lang Publishers
• Jim’s first Listening Superpower Interview: Impacting the #BottomLine through #Scaling #OrganizationalListening with Jim Macnamara

Key Takeaways:

"Stop doing some of the things you're doing that are ineffective and replace them with efforts at listening. Listening is communication." - Jim Macnamara

"Organizational listening is not a burden or a cost, it is a major opportunity for better engagement, trust-building, and financial success." - Jim Macnamara

"Communication is about imparting and sharing information, it's about community and exchange. Listening is the key to true communication." - Jim Macnamara

"To truly listen, organizations must go beyond selective listening and engage in outreach, actively seeking diverse perspectives and voices." - Jim Macnamara

Connect with Jim Macnamara

• Linkedin
• Twitter
• Email: jim.macnamara@uts.edu.au

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, organizations are constantly seeking innovative ways to adapt and thrive. One key aspect that cannot be overlooked is the power and influence of peer-to-peer networks.

These networks, consisting of smaller tribes within an organization, have the potential to shape the course of change and drive transformative outcomes. Trust and communication are foundational elements.

According to our guest, Jeppe Vilstrup Hansgaard, you need to find the 3% of employees that influence 90% of potential success. And you will be surprised at who has the most influence in your organization.

But how can we tap into this hidden force and engage the influencers within these tribes to become true changemakers?

Jeppe Vilstrup Hansgaard helps bold leaders succeed with change through change analytics and organizational network analysis. At Innovisor, their aim is to move their portfolio of services towards prescriptive analytics with the ultimate objective to eliminate change failure.

In this episode, Jeppe discusses breaking through hierarchical barriers of communication and listening by understanding peer-to-peer networks. Activating and engaging the 3% provides a successful path for implementing change.

""If we really want to succeed with a change, I have this saying: 'Done by the people, or done with the people beats done to the people.'"." - Jeppe Vilstrup Hansgaard

SUPERPOWER Notes:

00:24 - What Jeppe discovered as he noticed the power of listening: Introverts had more influence than others which is counterintuitive.

02:15 - Understanding the influence of introverts: Insights from a recent study

04:45 - Who is having influence: People that are good listeners, it's the introverts that have the influence.

05:57 - What changed in him after discovering this truth about listening: I don't think you can succeed with change in any way unless you engage the informal networks in an organization.

07:14 - Finding the right 3% to influence 90% of employees and engaging them: That's where understanding the peer to peer network is key.

13:49 - Making sense of the concept of co-creation in the change-making process

15:04 - Explaining peer-to-peer listening as a feedback channel and 'iceberg of ignorance' model

17:19 - One key trick to do when not using people's feedback: When people have given you feedback, and if you're not going to use it, tell them why you're not using it.

18:03 - How leaders can listen better when they work remote: Walk, Call, and Email.

19:41 - Why he's not in favor of active listening

21:22 - Jeppe shares his listening style and how to know you are asking stretching questions or putting people in boxes

24:07 - The value of pauses when talking: Use those breaks to your advantage; it will make you look competent and trustworthy.

25:25 - How to listen and ask questions without being self-serving: Making sure you use open-ended questions that invite people to reflect.

27:14 - Most surprising influential person when working with a client on organizational change.

30:05 - How they activated this influential person to co-create organizational change.

35:07 - Jeppe describes his book, 'Another Change Fiasco!'

36:07 - Discussion about this quote 'done by the people, or done with the people beats done to the people'

38:25 - The support technology provides in data collection to enable change to happen

40:16 - Designing your change program according to what blocks their success

42:04 - Why you should always ask and not presume you know everything

Key Takeaways:

"Listen three times. You need to listen, listen and listen. Because that's the way you build trust." - Jeppe Vilstrup Hansgaard

"Being in motion is a good idea. So walking is good because when you walk, you can actually suddenly stay silent or you can watch a bird, and that's okay. Whereas if you sit in a meeting with a table in between, one is a leader, the other one an employee, then you have already created a barrier. You want to get rid of the barriers."- Jeppe Vilstrup Hansgaard

"The top level of an organization only knows 4% of the problems their people face. The middlemen, they know about 9%. But the people at the frontline, the ones out there in the organization, they know 100%." - Jeppe Vilstrup Hansgaard

"The best clients have realized…connecting to those people at the frontline and listening to them… (helps) build or design something that actually makes sense and works." - Jeppe Vilstrup Hansgaard

"One of the things that I do as a leader is that I always speak last. So if we have meetings, I stay quiet." - Jeppe Vilstrup Hansgaard

Notes/Mentions:

• Another Change Fiasco! Now What by Jeppe Vilstrup Hansgaard: https://www.innovisor.com/resources/
• Abraham Lincoln:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln
• Edelman Trust Barometer: https://www.edelman.com/trust/trust-barometer

Connect with Jeppe Vilstrup Hansgaard:

• Website: https://www.innovisor.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeppehansgaard/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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Undoubtedly, AI has made significant contributions to various aspects of human life by automating countless tasks and eliminating the need for extensive manual labor.

However, a notable challenge arises as AI replaces the human workforce in many companies, resulting in a decline in human interaction skills.

This raises the question of whether life is becoming too monotonous.

In this AI-dominated world, where can listening find its place when challenges are minimized?

Niels Van Quaquebeke is an organizational psychologist based in Hamburg, Germany. He is recognized as one of the Top100 German-speaking business scholars under 40 (Handelsblatt). He is the recipient of multiple awards for his teaching and is frequently featured in public media.

In this episode, Niels explores how we can coexist with AI. Despite its incredible potential to transform various aspects of life, it is crucial to recognize the power of human communication and the ability to overcome challenges through human-to-human interaction and listening.

"The [ AI response] makes for a very enjoyable interaction where you don't feel stupid, you don't feel misunderstood. You feel somebody else is taking the time and somebody else actually communicates in a way with you that you understand. And you also feel seen." - Niels Van Quaquebeke

SUPERPOWER Notes:

01:02 - What Niels focus is now: I'm very interested now on how our relationships are formed, not only with each other through technology, but also with us AND technology.

02:02 - The Eliza Program and its Implications in human-AI interaction

03:32 - Paying attention to the Now, New, and Next of our relationship with technology

11:40 - How has AI helped people in communication and listening: "AI just has that patience to do it. And listening does require patience and AI has potentially all that processing power to listen to every nuance."

14:31 - The opportunities AI has afforded humans

20:02 - How AI has removed the social layer that hinders many of us to achieve certain things

28:51 - How to not live a boring life despite AI's advancement: Celebrate the human life that we have with each other and start building communities. Be more deliberate with how we interact with each other.

Key Takeaways:

"Listening is not just hearing, but also trying to understand." - Niels Van Quaquebeke

"When trying to understand, we're also not islands. We are connected to other sense-making systems that help us." - Niels Van Quaquebeke

"AI just has that patience to do it. And listening does require patience and AI has potentially all that processing power to listen to every nuance."- Niels Van Quaquebeke

"AI has the response resources at its disposal. It's not necessarily biased in one way, but it really has a whole bouquet of responses, how it can interact with you." - Niels Van Quaquebeke

"The [ AI response] makes for a very enjoyable interaction where you don't feel stupid, you don't feel misunderstood. You feel somebody else is taking the time and somebody else actually communicates in a way with you that you understand. And you also feel seen." - Niels Van Quaquebeke

"There's a lot of human potential in interacting with AI in the future that is yet to come."- Niels Van Quaquebeke

"I find it so interesting that we spend hours and hours pondering how to best prompt an AI; if we would spend the same hours and hours to think about how we could best have a conversation with another person just imagine the potential we could unleash between two people." - Niels Van Quaquebeke

"We spend hours pondering how to best prompt an AI; if we would spend the same hours to think about how we could best have a conversation with another person just imagine the potential we could unleash between two people." - Niels Van Quaquebeke

Notes/Mentions:

• Eliza Program: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA
• Khan Academy: https://blog.khanacademy.org/learner-khanmigo/
• Niel’s Interview: Leaders and Asking Questions: The Surprising Discovery of What Is Needed to Find Solutions and Build Relationships with Niels Van Quaquebeke

Connect with Niels Van Quaquebeke:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/quaquebeke
• X: https://twitter.com/NielsQuaquebeke

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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In this episode of the Listening Superpower Podcast, we're joined by Nanna Holst to delve into how the media landscape's evolution, driven by new platforms, shifting consumption, and AI advancements, is swamping audiences with more information, but not necessarily more insight. We discuss how traditional media must transform, using active listening and engagement to stay pertinent as a bridge between the public and those in authority, as outlined in her insightful report. (Link below)

Nanna Holst is an experienced journalist, editor and project manager with a demonstrated history of working in the media production industry. Skilled in Making People Reach Their Potential, Co-creation, Public Outreach, News Writing, Breaking News, Video Journalism, Journalism, Editing and Television. She is into teaching and coaching of young journalists, a strong program and project management professional based on constructive, solution based journalism and a strong sense of public service and democratic values. She is a graduate from the Danish National School of Journalism and Aarhus Business School. Also a Fellow from Constructive Institute at Aarhus University, developer of The Better Listening Method and helping news organizations listen better to their audiences. Also she is a keynote speaker.

In this episode, Nanna explores the power of collective intelligence listening. She shares stories and examples of a new initiative called Better Listening for Journalists which engages the community into their journalistic process. By actively listening to and asking for thought-provoking questions, this approach not only strengthens relationships but also promotes better collaboration and a more harmonious society.

"If we want to stay relevant in a world where everybody can be their own media, we have to know what is expected of us and what we can help them with to make everybody wiser and everybody happier and have this unity." - Nanna Holst

SUPERPOWER Notes:

01:33 - That moment she noticed the power of listening: I was forced to train my listening skills at a very early age because I'm the little sister in a very talkative family. I had to listen very carefully to know where I can dive into the conversation and get heard.

04:12 - How has her view of listening changed through the years

05:18 - A journalistic way of listening versus listening to understand

06:11 - Establishing a concept program called Better Listening: We want to listen more actively and systematically

08:04 - Finding out the 'why of listening' for 'Better listening'

09:02 - What the whole 'Ask Us' method encapsulates

12:04 - The idea of collective intelligence in listening: It starts with the questions, but when we publish an answer, people chip in with their knowledge.

13:07 - Questions that fosters better communication, cooperation, and understanding

17:26 - Transparency involved in the answers written: If we can't get a perfect answer, we say, this is as far as we get, but does anybody out there know anything?

18:40 - 4 points that helps Better Listening listen better: Listen first, showing everyday humility, trust in the population, listen up

22:25 - Why listen. Not just for the checklist, but to really understand: You have to find out why you are listening, what do you want to get out of it, and what are your resources.

25:07 - What leaders should know about sustained listening in their organizations

28:11 - The inspiration behind the articles written: We could see that our engagement grew when we found a way to put a question formula and a ballot in each and every article.

30:08 - What has changed in her now doing Better Listening: I have known a little about a lot.

32:35 - Distinguishing between hearing and listening

33:29 - The dream she has for her legacy media in the next five years

35:36 - How she makes listening sustainable for her: I like to have markers everywhere that reminds me of this huge 'Why'.

Key Takeaways:

"...You can listen in a thousand ways. It's like a car that has movable parts. You can just adjust them in many different ways." - Nanna Holst

“Listen first, show everyday humility, trust in the population, and listen up.” - Nanna Holst

“...the missing link between wanting to listen and actually listening is some sort of method that keeps us on track, and make us work smart and not do the things that do not work.”- Nanna Holst

“Listening is a skill. It's something that can be trained and we can learn it. “- Nanna Holst

"Listen first. Keep focus on the audience. Trust in the population. Constantly learn and improve. These are the keys to better listening." - Nanna Holst

Notes/Mentions:

• Better Listening Report: https://constructiveinstitute.org/app/uploads/2023/07/Nanna-Holst.pdf
• KQED Media: https://www.kqed.org

Connect with Nanna Holst:

• Website: Website: https://www.nannaholst.dk/english-version/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nanna-holst

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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Politics is often described as a tough world to be in, filled with heated debates and difficult conversations. Navigating through these challenging situations can be a daunting task. However, there is a key element that plays a vital role in this process - that is listening.

Our guest on the listening SUPERPOWER podcast, Matt Krayton is the Founder of Publitics, a public affairs, political, PR and strategy consultancy. He provides counsel to campaigns, candidates, elected officials, executives, founders, organizations and brands. Most recently, Matt worked with Biden for President on special projects including having helped create the viral "We Just Did" hat and collateral for endorsements including NBA star Ben Simmons. His work on the campaign was recognized with a Campaigns and Elections Magazine Stanley F. Reed Award. He is currently an adjunct professor in Centenary University's Business Department, teaching in their first-of-its-kind social media program. Prior to founding Publitics, Matt worked at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind Poll and later taught a freshman seminar for political science students and in the Law in the Liberal Arts program as an adjunct instructor.

In this episode, Matt sheds light on the importance of listening and digging down deep to break barriers to truly understand what lies beneath the surface. In so doing, one becomes a credible messenger of the message that can help foster effective dialogue and make a meaningful impact. He also shares lessons learned from running his own business, highlighting how active listening enables valuable feedback that contributes to the team's growth and business development.

“The strength of any message is built on the ability to understand your audience. " - Matt Krayton

Listening SUPERPOWER Notes:

01:22 - Recalling that moment when he realized the power of listening

05:46 - How Matt's choice to listen helped in a heated discussion: It allowed this person to process what they were feeling and see the bigger picture and view me as a credible partner in helping with a communication issue.

09:47 - A client-focused approach that Matt has adopted: The first thing that we do as opposed to offering our take on it is we ask, “What do you think is the problem?” And we listen.

11:52 - Expounding on 'deep canvassing' in listening and its impact on hot topics and potential voters. Also, how this tool could support stakeholder communication.

17:43 - Listening from his point of view: It's both taking things to a new level, and also building a strong enough foundation to stand on while you're having difficult conversations.

18:44 - Scenarios where listening helps make a strong foundation for more opportunities to happen

24:27 - What makes him drawn to challenging work: The most challenging situations are oftentimes the most interesting situations to me.

27:55 - Lessons learned from running his own company that relates to the value of listening

35:40 - What does communication and the work process look like within Matt's team and how does this impact the business culture?

40:33 - Listening as digging down deep: It is understanding that the first thing you hear from someone isn't always the thing that's at the core of what you're trying to get to.

Key Takeaways:

"If you think that someone fundamentally cannot understand you, then you're going to have a hard time taking advice from that person because it feels so out of the realm of your experience. That credibility is so important when you're trying to deliver a message." - Matt Krayton

"[Listening] It's really just like building that foundation and making sure that's very strong so that you can jump off of it."- Matt Krayton

"I've tried to be very transparent about the challenges that I've faced growing as a manager, growing a business. I think that has helped opened the door to feedback solicited and unsolicited from the team."- Matt Krayton

"It's not about being right. It's about getting to the right answer."- Matt Krayton

"You have to have that humility to know that you're not always going to have the right answer, but you have to be committed to getting to the right answer."- Matt Krayton

"Just beneath the surface of whatever presentation, emotionally or from a communications perspective, there's a lot of nuance in how people feel about particular issues. Digging into that is extraordinarily important in being able to break down the barriers that stand between you and whatever endpoint you're looking to get to."- Matt Krayton

"If you can be a credible messenger and develop that credibility through listening and empathy, then I think you're going to be in a much better position."- Matt Krayton

Connect with Matt Krayton:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkrayton
• Website: https://www.publitics.com/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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Listening is a powerful skill that can transform our interactions and relationships. It opens up doors to deeper understanding, connection, and empathy and ultimately cultivates something equally valuable, and that is humility.

Michal Lehmann is a post-doctoral researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, focused on exploring the intricacies of humility from a dyadic perspective. Her research delves into the causes, outcomes, and boundary conditions of virtues in the workplace, with a special emphasis on how humility can enhance one’s understanding of people from diverse backgrounds. She is the lead author of a paper about dyadic humility among co-workers published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, as well as a paper about listening as an intervention to increase humility published in the Journal of Positive Psychology.

In this episode, Michal explores the power of listening at a dyadic level. By emphasizing the importance of listening, team members can uncover better ideas and contribute to improved performance. This, in turn, fuels the success of the organization and enhances its bottom line results.

"When someone listens really, really well, but truly and authentically well, they become part of another person's story." - Michal Lehmann

SUPERPOWER Notes:

01:36 - What was it like for Michal to notice the power of listening

02:48 - The significance of her father's act of listening with her.

03:33 - How she got into research in the listening space

08:33 - Listening to your spark: It's like the scent of spring, of blossoms that when I feel I found something interesting.

11:02 - Two questions she focused on in her research about humility at work: What could increase humility between two people? Once I am humble in the presence of another person, how will that affect this other person at work?

13:53 - Humility taking place in a dyadic relationship

16:04 - How listening contributes to humility: We found that listening helps create humility for both partners, for the speaker and the listener.

16:59 - Two main components of literature that explains why listening makes people more humble: Internal complexity and external complexity

20:25 - Conducting experiments in different courses and coming up with interesting findings

22:19 - Recommendations on how to develop humility among team members

24:51 - Intellectual humility as it relates to empathy

27:10 - Measuring emphatic accuracy

28:25 - How to increase intellectual humility: Making them realize that we don't know everything and we could make mistakes.

30:55 - Benefits of cultivating intellectual humility in an organization: Productivity will increase and bottomline will also do much better

31:34 - Checking on her very own intellectual humility and what negative connotation people have with listening

36:08 - What she wants to achieve more in terms of listening: I would like to find more ways to make connections between science, research findings and the field.

Key Takeaways:

"Humility is particularly important because…you cannot be humble without another person. Humility is something that is perceived in the context of other people." - Michal Lehmann

"It [listening] helps equalize things and it helps both partners to become more humble, but more so for the listener." - Michal Lehmann

"When you truly listen to another person…you…merge with the other person. That's the strongest way to realize that you're not the center of the world and that you are part of something bigger. That is why when people listen, they become more humble, because they have the understanding that they're part of something more complicated, more complex." - Michal Lehmann

"I think that leaders should let coworkers work on projects in dyads (pairs). Because we know there are some very important processes happening at that dyadic level and that might improve performance of the team." - Michal Lehmann

Notes/Mentions:

• Ep. 60 Avi Kluger: https://listeningalchemy.com/listening-superpower/definition-of-listening-based-on-science-with-dr-avi-kluger/
• Bradley Owens and David Hekman: https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amj.2013.0660

Connect with Michal Lehmann:

• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/michal-lehmann-74aa705/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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Let’s go back the memory lane and look back at how this podcast started. The podcast started as "Listen In" but evolved into the Listening Superpower podcast to explore the impact and importance of listening.

Over the course of the podcast's three-year run, Raquel has engaged in conversations with experts and individuals from various fields, all centered around the topic of listening.

In this episode of the Listening SUPERPOWER Podcast, Raquel reflects on the evolution of the podcast and its focus on the topic of listening. She shares her initial intention of capturing conversations with amazing people about the importance of listening in various aspects of life.

Raquel discusses how the podcast has helped her learn and grow, and her desire to share these insights with the public.

She talks about her journey of getting used to having her voice out in public and the decision to change the podcast's name from "Listen In" to the "Listening Superpower Podcast."

Raquel explains that the podcast explores the power and impact of listening, both in positive and negative ways. She emphasizes that listening is not just about being passive, but also about active engagement, challenging each other, and asking questions.

The episode concludes with Raquel's thoughts on the podcast's purpose, which is to inspire new ideas and perspectives through listening.

Raquel expresses her curiosity about further exploring the integration of listening and speaking in communication to have a greater impact in daily life.

"Integrating listening intentionally in communication can lead to greater impact and productivity." - Raquel Ark

Listening SUPERPOWER Notes:

02:23 - Exploring the Depth of Listening: Discover how the podcast evolved from "Listen In" to the Listening Superpower Podcast, diving into the impact and importance of listening in various aspects of life and work.

05:12 - The Challenge of Herding Cats in a Listening Project: Learn about Raquel's experience in a listening project where the abundance of ideas and perspectives made it challenging to focus on a single prototype.

08:01 - Planning a Convention with a Listening Approach: Explore how Raquel applied a listening approach to planning a convention, empowering team members to take ownership and make decisions collaboratively.

11:11 - Active Listening and Collaboration: Understand the misconception that listening is passive and discover how active listening, challenging each other, and open conversations can lead to better collaboration and outcomes.

14:01 - Inspiring New Ideas and Perspectives: Learn how the Listening Superpower Podcast aims to inspire listeners by sharing stories and conversations that can change perspectives and create personal growth.

16:23 - Exploring Listening Alchemy: Delve into the concept of listening alchemy and its potential to transform challenging conversations into valuable insights and outcomes, and the intention to integrate listening intentionally in communication.

Key Takeaways:

• "Once you start paying attention, listening is everywhere."
• "Listening Alchemy is about transforming messy conversations into valuable insights."
• "Integrating listening intentionally in communication can lead to greater impact and productivity."

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• https://listeningalchemy.com/
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn: Raquel Ark https://www.linkedin.com/in/raquel-ark-b2067613/

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How can listening help organizations have impact on critical global issues, while understanding and acting upon local needs? This tension is the space our next guest leans into in order to understand the real needs and potential.

Jeff Hoffman is a Proven Public Affairs executive for The Walt Disney Company, the world’s most storied and admired media and entertainment enterprise. He currently leads The Conference Board’s Institute on Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy, part of the ESG Center. He manages his own firm specializing in global corporate citizenship, ESG (environmental, social and governance), sustainability, philanthropy, and cause marketing.

In this episode Jeff discusses the transformative power of offering a listening ear, which brings about magical experiences that enriches individuals' lives and has positive effects on their company and the community they're a part of. He also shares how he has navigated failures, challenges and successes, where listening or not listening well has played a role. Understand better how to have a bigger impact on global issues, yet adjust to the nuances of local needs.

"The important thing about listening is also to understand what you're hearing… really try to pull the facts out of what you're listening to." - Jeff Hoffman

Listening SUPERPOWER Notes:

00:33 - That time he experienced the power of listening by giving the people he talked to a magical listening experience

03:36 - What he realizes about the power of listening.

06:00 - Describing the corporate culture at Disney: You want your cast member to be the best and to bring out the richness of their own experiences into their role within the company.

12:13 - Understanding and recognizing everyone's differences: You have to understand where you are and what the needs are, and the differences.

20:35 - How he engages with the communities he serves in a manner that creates a powerful impact on them.

26:20 - Serving together to be effective: Habitat for Humanity International has done an amazing program where you can have volunteers volunteering with the people who are going to live in that home.

29:07 - Neighboring over volunteering

30:24 - Achieving the United Nations Sustainability Goals: It's all about coming together in community and collaboration and service.

35:32 - One important insight to understand about listening

Key Takeaways:

"... to understand differences, you need to talk to people, but you really need to listen and understand what they're saying." - Jeff Hoffman

"We don't do a lot of telling now. We ask a lot of questions because we want you to tell us. We know (listening) is going to be more effective. And we're seeing that effectiveness where programs today are based on a lot of input from the people who are being served." - Jeff Hoffman

Notes/Mentions:

• Episode 66 with Mary Alice Arthur: https://listeningalchemy.com/allgemein/a-journey-into-the-power-of-storytelling-with-mary-alice-arthur/https://listeningalchemy.com/allgemein/a-journey-into-the-power-of-storytelling-with-mary-alice-arthur/
• Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children: https://www.gosh.nhs.uk/https://www.gosh.nhs.uk/

Connect with Jeff Hoffman:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hoffmanjeffrey/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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Storytelling has captivated humanity since the beginning of time. It has the unique ability to transport us to different worlds, evoke emotions, and convey powerful messages. But storytelling is not just about entertaining and fascinating us; it is also about listening. By truly engaging with a story, we can gain deeper insights into ourselves and others, foster empathy, and broaden our perspectives.

Mary Alice Arthur is a Story Activist working with story in service of positive systemic shift and for focusing collective intelligence on critical issues. She guides people to find and activate the story that will take them into a larger and more authentic future. With story as an ally, people become the visionary leaders, changemakers and paradigm shifters they want to be. They know the story is their lens on the world and determines their agency. They have the knowledge and tools to change it for the better.

She is an internationally recognised process host, building capacity for people to bring their stories to life, and in practice for more than 25 years. She is inspired to work with large and small systemic stories holding keys for a more generative future. She is a steward of Art of Hosting, teaching participatory practice around the world, and co-creator of Collective Story Harvest methodology.

Mary Alice is the author of 365 ALIVE! Find your voice. Claim your story. Live your brilliant life. and hosts THE STORY DOJO, an online community focused on the power and practice of story. She works with individuals, communities and organizations around the world.

In this episode, my conversation with Mary Alice explores the how the superpowers of storytelling and listening are like the yin and yang. She shares stories that take us on a journey from being hired for jobs to shifting organizational culture and engaging employees in change projects.

"If you want to be a good storyteller, you have to be a good listener." - Mary Alice Arthur

Listening SUPERPOWER Notes:

00:24 - Sharing a moment in time when she becomes aware of the power of listening

02:52 - How curiosity allowed a listening experience to happen: This kind of curiosity feeds an inquiry about what's really going on or what really matters.

04:00 - Becoming a witness [withness] in a listening experience: I am inviting you to be with the storyteller, to be in service to the person who is speaking

05:59 - Understanding the power of withness: You can make somebody stronger or weaker in the power of your intention to them.

10:00 - What it means to be awake in an interaction between storyteller and listener: We create stories so that we could survive and we could thrive.

13:47 - The three waves of influence with which leaders use storytelling as a tool

19:00 - How to make people share their story and vulnerability: Somebody has to go first and it's a nice step for a leader to go first.

24:17 - A story that demonstrates the power of listening

27:34 - Re-energizing an organizational structure: Our listening and our storying can reawaken why we decided to say yes to the purpose that we're doing together.

31:41 - What you can get out of listening to one's self: If I really want to show up with my highest potential, I also need to listen to myself.

33:42 - Listening as love in action: You're important enough that I'm going to give you my full attention now.

35:31 - Sharing her experience of being listened to and seeing love in action

38:12 - How can I listen louder?

Key Takeaways:

"The business of stories is to be awake. And that can only happen with the power of good listening." - Mary Alice Arthur

The quality of the people in the audience is determining how they show up, not the other way around. It's interesting to realize the power you have as a listener, and to know that it's intrinsic to the communication, the interaction you're having."- Mary Alice Arthur

"The thing…about vulnerability is, uncomfortable does not mean unsafe. Sometimes getting on the edge of your comfort zone is exactly where you need to be."- Mary Alice Arthur

"We have a challenge, when we're leaders or when we're facilitators or when we're anybody who's in charge of something and in front of something, oftentimes we are never in it; listening asks us to be in it with somebody."- Mary Alice Arthur

"At the bottom of it all, listening is love in action. And if you intend it to be like that, people will feel that and more will come out of it."- Mary Alice Arthur

Notes/Mentions:

• Stephen Covey:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Covey
• David Drake: https://www.amazon.com/Narrative-Coaching-Definitive-Bringing-Stories/dp/0996356312https://www.amazon.com/Narrative-Coaching-Definitive-Bringing-Stories/dp/0996356312
• David Huchens: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidhutchens/https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidhutchens/
• Momo by Michael Inde: https://www.amazon.com/Momo-Puffin-Books-Michael-Ende/dp/0140317538https://www.amazon.com/Momo-Puffin-Books-Michael-Ende/dp/0140317538

Connect with Mary Alice Arthur:

• Website: https://www.getsoaring.com

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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Discover the beauty of acceptance and the power of listening.

Puneet Singh Singhal, founder of ssstart.org, joins Raquel Ark on the Listening Superpower podcast to discuss the power of listening and the importance of acceptance for people who stutter.

Puneet shares his personal journey with stuttering and how it led him to create ssstart.org – a safe space for others facing the same challenges. He emphasizes the need for society to listen without interruption or judgment, and highlights the positive impact that listening can have on individuals and communities.

Puneet 's journey of acceptance and empowerment through listening serves as a powerful reminder of the transformative power of genuine care and understanding.

By actively listening and accepting individuals as they are, the organization fosters personal growth, confidence, and a sense of belonging.

Through continued efforts and a commitment to listening, organizations and individuals can make a lasting impact on the lives of those who stutter and promote a world where everyone's voice is heard and valued.

Don't miss our conversation. Tune in. Let’s listen in.

"Stuttering is just a difference, it's not a deficiency of any kind." - Puneet Singh Singhal

Listening SUPERPOWER Notes:

00:48 - Puneet's experience of being a listener and observer

02:08 - Transition from being a stutterrer to becoming a public speaker

04:30 - Introduction to Puneet's organization, SSStart - creating a Safe Space for people who stutter

07:22 - The Power of Acceptance: Importance of listening and treating everyone as equals, stuttering as not a problem to be fixed, but a difference to be accepted and embraced.

11:01 - Puneet's personal story and drive to support others, acceptance and self-love as essentials in overcoming the challenges associated with stuttering

17:46 - Embracing Diversity and Curiosity: Welcoming curious people to learn and understand stuttering

20:57 - The power of listening and the importance of relationships, listening extends beyond the stuttering community and can enhance relationships and understanding in all aspects of life

Key Takeaways:

"Listening is a big part of the [community] because when we listen to someone who speaks in a different way, it changes our perspective and opens up a whole new world." - Puneet Singh

"Have a good time. Listening to your partner, listening to your friends, listening to your colleague. I think it may help, it may not help, but it will always give you a better understanding and a better reflection of the world." - Puneet Singh Singhal

"No amount of money will matter when we die. It's the relationships and memories that we build through our connections." - Puneet Singh Singhal

Connect with Puneet Singh Singhal :

• Website:https://ssstart.org/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/123ssstart
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/puneet-singhal/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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As humans, we have an immense potential within us waiting to be unlocked. However, often we find ourselves stuck in a fixed way of being, limiting our growth and potential. It's time to break free from this mindset and embrace curiosity as a way of life.

Mark Vandeneijnde’s keen sense of insight and market understanding was the source of many breakthrough initiatives during his 10-year corporate career with a large FMCG company. As co-founder of BEING at Full Potential, he now uses these same skills to help access the incredible potential that lies within individuals and their organizations. He is the co-architect of the HUMAN POTENTIAL Assessment Tool and an adventurous filmmaker in the area of Business Transformation.

Let’s join Mark in this episode as we explore a powerful tool that can help individuals unlock their full potential. This tool is designed to probe and challenge individuals in a way that leads to self-discovery and ultimately, solutions.

“What I discovered is that it's not what you're doing that is necessarily related to your purpose, but it's the essence of what you're doing." - Mark Vandeneijnde

Listening SUPERPOWER Notes:

01:52 - That moment he first noticed the power of listening: Stepping out of my corporate job and discovering something inside of me that I wanted to express more of.

04:45 - The turning point of that decision 10 years ago: I know what I need to do and I need to move on.

08:11 - How he got clarity in his purpose: Simply going back to those hobbies where you just lose yourself in the process.

13:56 - Tapping into the human potential: Let go of that fixed state of being and enter into a place of curiosity.

25:24 - What is The Human Potential Assessment tool: Listen to potential and to a certain extent even measure potential.

36:08 - What is the tool used for: To probe, to ask questions so that they can eventually come to the conclusion themselves.

41:30 - Entrepreneurship from a place of being: Meeting a need that is coming from within and bridging it to market needs.

47:31 - Advice to leaders on how to do things differently: Look at these young people as a fountain of creativity and ideas to survive long-term.

52:07 - How to support this creativity from younger generations: It's a cultural shift; a fundamental change at how organizations look at the potential of their people.

56:31 - Digging deep into the idea of an intrapreneur more than just being an entrepreneur

Key Takeaways:

"If we pay attention and delve beneath the surface of the things we love doing, we discover their essence, the profound quality that truly matters, and that's where the real power lies." - Mark Vandeneijnde

"Organizations must adapt and prioritize how to tap into the natural creativity and ideas present among the younger generation." - Mark Vandeneijnde

"We envision senior individuals as visionaries and decision-makers. However, it is often the junior members who possess the strongest connection to what the future holds." - Mark Vandeneijnde

Connect with Mark Vandeneijnde :

• Website: https://beingatfullpotential.com/
• Website [Human Potential Assessment]: https://beingatfullpotential.io

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking we know everything. What if we took a step back and listened more? Not only to other people, but also to ourselves and to the situation? By opening ourselves up to different perspectives and experiences, we start on a journey of exploration and discovery, even in challenging conversations at work.

In this episode of the listening SUPERPOWER podcast, author of the book, Thrive in Turbulent Times, Jo Boniszewski shares how to listen so we can bring calm and clear thinking amidst the storm. After 15 years of commercial management roles, Jo became an executive leadership coach and facilitator and has been working many years with leaders and organizations to help them lead with more ease and impact.

Since 2013, Jo has worked closely with Alan Seale, Founder and Director at the Center for Transformational Presence. She is a programme leader for the Transformational Presence signature programmes. In 2021 Jo launched her online Thrive self-leadership year programme. The programme, based on her book, focusses on equipping participants to build their capacities for thriving in these turbulent times. British-born Jo lives in The Netherlands with her husband René and three children, Alex (2003), Sophie (2005) and Katie (2009).

Jo shares amazing stories and very practical tips on how to manage our monkey mind and how to become aware of our hidden assumptions, which are key to being able to listen with impact. She helps us understand our human nature and embrace our “weaknesses” without judgment, so that we can extend the same understanding and compassion to others.

Enjoy listening to our journey of exploration and discovery to foster deeper connections and more meaningful relationships at work and at home.

"If you embrace not knowing, you open your mind to new perspectives, new ideas, new possibilities, the potential and the opportunity that might be present in situations." - Jo Boniszewski

Listening SUPERPOWER Notes: 00:38 - When she first noticed the power of listening in her work with leaders 02:32 - Putting aside the inner chatter: First noticing it, taking one step back, and becoming present. 04:35 - The impact it made on the other person when she put aside her internal chatter: I would notice a sort of settling, relaxing and an opening up.

08:25 - Experiencing the discovery of uncharted territories leading to a connection 15:30 - Surprising moment when the power of listening became clear to her: becoming aware of your assumptions 22:54 - What is listening to a situation? 27:54 - The result of 'inquiring together': Creative energy was freed up and work started getting done. 31:47 - What drove her to write her book Thrive in Turbulent Times: Helping people to meet this turbulence from a place of trust, calmness, clarity and ease. 33:24 - Five steps to bring calmness and Thrive in Turbulent Times 40:31 - Listening as a full body and wholehearted experience 41:54 - What it means to embrace 'not knowing'

Key Takeaways: "If you make a commitment to yourself to do it [five steps to thrive in turbulent times] for 10 days just notice what the effect is on your state of being. It's a doorway that you can walk through to find some more inner calm, inner quiet, and inner focus." - Jo Boniszewski

"It's important to accept that you're human and not judge yourself. That allows you to be more non-judgmental in your interactions with others which is essential when you want to be curious and open to listen and discover." - Jo Boniszewski

"I view listening as a full body experience that's wholehearted and whole minded." - Jo Boniszewski

"Embrace not knowing as being important, even an important capacity to have to be able to listen well." - Jo Boniszewski

"Embracing not knowing helps you to stay in a place of calm." - Jo Boniszewski

Notes/Mentions: Thrive in turbulent times: A handbook for living by Jo Boniszewski:https://joboniszewski.com/ Connect with Jo Boniszewski:

Websites

• www.joboniszewski.com
• www.barefoottraining.nl

Social Media

• www.linkedin.com/in/joboniszewski
• www.instagram.com/joboniszewski
• www.facebook.com/jo.boniszewski

E-mail

• Jo@barefoottraining.nl

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/raquel-ark-b2067613/
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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How can you increase your mental and physical resilience so that you can choose your responses to the day-to-day pressures as well as navigate life’s changes?

While physical health is crucial, it's equally important to prioritize mental well-being. On this episode of the Listening Superpower Podcast, we welcome Leah Scott, a Wim Hof Method instructor, an accredited Snowy Mountains guide and a mother of two. Leah shares her wealth of expertise on building mental and physical resilience with tools that help us become present while also learning how to listen to our body and mind. Leah is on a mission to inspire people to see beyond their perceived physical and mental limitations and improve their health and wellbeing. From her base in Australia, Leah regularly plunges into the icy waters of the Thredbo River, taking advantage of the power of cold exposure. In this episode, she shares how this ritual has helped her conquer her own battle against stress, anxiety, and depression, emphasizing the importance of listening to one's body, emotions, and thoughts. Leah has been featured in publications such as Vogue, Marie Claire, and Body & Soul, and has even created the world's first Wim Hof Method retreat for women. Her unique perspective shines through as she shares practical tips and insights on enhancing personal growth, building resilience, and fostering meaningful connections with oneself and others. Join us as Leah shares her story and teaches us how to better understand and connect with our inner selves.

“Get to know yourself, get to know your thoughts. And I mean listen to your thoughts. Because you can choose your response to your thoughts. Get to know your emotions; understand your feelings, your sensations, how your body works, your nervous system as a whole. Observe yourself, examine yourself and your situations. And I guarantee that you will start evolving and start to align with your purpose.” – Leah Scott

Listening SUPERPOWER Notes: 01:10 – The very first time that Leah noticed the power of listening: Going on a seeking journey that led her to her ‘second life’ 05:30 – As an athlete, Leah discusses the difference between listening to her body before and after her ‘second life’ 07:46 – On understanding her mind and body: Leah shares how Wim Hof and his method helped her take care of her physical and mental health 10:23 – Explaining the science behind the breathwork and cold water exposure 18:46 – ‘Just to know who I am’: How present-day Leah defines and understands resilience now 22:52 – What Leah pays attention to when working with other people and groups: “I look at them at a very micro level” 27:56 – Observe in order to be of help: How Leah works with different types of people and how they manage themselves. 36:54 – What’s brilliant about these tools? It never gets into anything that one can’t handle! 38:40 – Leah discusses how these practices have been male-dominated in the past, while talking about the benefits of these tools not only for men, but also important for women 42:11 – If you’re someone with cold hands and feet, rheumatoid, arthritis, and/or sore joints, try this tip!

Key Takeaways:

"If I get into the river now or the ice baths, my heartbeat just flutters. We start to get control of stress. We're using this short-term stress to help us then deal with long-term stress." - Leah Scott "It's when you've been through the darkest parts of your life and really gotten to know your tools so well, that you can see how to help people…from the observations." - Leah Scott "My best advice to those out there would be to do the breath work, have the ice baths, calm your inner world down, know your inner world; that starts to reflect the outer world." - Leah Scott "When we can connect to ourselves, we then connect to everybody else around us. It just starts with us." - Leah Scott "Retreats are so great for corporate people…because they get to connect with their colleagues."- Leah Scott

Notes/Mentions:

• Wim Hof: https://www.wimhofmethod.com/
• Viktor Frankl: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Frankl

Connect with Leah Scott:

• Website: https://www.leahscott.net/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leahscottie/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raquel-ark-b2067613/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listening_alchemy/?hl=en
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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We often don’t give space and energy to listen to what is not being said and instead focus on what we hear, our expectations and what we have “practiced” without paying attention to others or the space in between. This can cause a lot of misunderstandings and performance is often lowered.

What if you could pave a way for beautiful moments of collaboration to happen where you can perform your best BECAUSE you are in tune with others and the moment, adapting to what is best for the group (and the audience)?

Grammy winning and musician extraordinaire Terreon Gully is one of the most influential artists of his generation. Tune into this episode as we take listening to a level you may not have considered before. We hope to erase all expectations and start from zero, unveiling unexpected outcomes on how huge listening impacts others. Parallels are made from music, to collaboration, leadership and life-death decision-making. Widely recognized for his creativity, versatility, and authenticity, Terreon has mastered a variety of musical genres. His innovative and distinct sound has inspired numerous artists and collaborations—from jazz legends and modern masters to the hottest hip hop icons. Committed to education and inspiring other musicians, Terreon served as a Professor of Music at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada and has given clinics and master classes all over the world; including, Australia, Canada, France, Germany and New Zealand.

When you listen to this episode and Terreon’s unique approach, not only will you learn how a master musician approaches making beautiful music with others, but you will learn how to master listening for impact in a big way.

Disclaimer: Terreon Gully, allowed the listening SUPERPOWER podcast to use a portion of the music from “Tanktified" in their podcast episode with Terreon which is licensed under TERREON’s MUSIC ASCAP. If you enjoyed the portion of music featured in this episode, please support the artist by visiting https://terreongully.com/. “A lot of people feel inadequate if they don't know and feel like it's something wrong. But I think that's how you learn—it’s about being first comfortable and cool with not knowing, and therefore, you are able to listen and learn.” – Terreon Gully Listening SUPERPOWER Notes: 00:00 – We play, it’s conveyed, they react: Terreon recalls when he first started playing music and how the musicians in church and the cadences of the preacher moved the congregation 03:48 – Music at its highest level: Listening to the space in between. “When musicians are really listening to each other and making the music happen” 11:33 – Starting from zero and what made a show the “best” that season: What makes it hard for people to be in tune with each other? 17:32 – Terreon’s tips on how you can become that musician who is able to create something beautiful with others: Take the time and really listen to the music; listen for everything 24:45 – There needs to be a space: Highlighting how you’re only able to listen and learn once you’re comfortable with admitting that you don’t know something 27:41 – Pay attention to what’s being said in order to hear what’s not being said; Terreon’s major life experience being on the jury, creating deductions and making decisions based on what was not said. 41:48 – Are women really better listeners than men?: “I don’t agree. I think everything is based on the individual.” Key Takeaways: “For me, music at its highest level is when musicians are really listening to each other and making the music happen.” – Terreon Gully “We have a limited vocabulary when it comes to language, but if you're listening and using more than just the language you have in communicating, you have an unlimited amount of things you can say and do.” – Terreon Gully

“Really take the time and really listen to the music. Listening to the music is totally different from checking out the music.” – Terreon Gully “Pay attention to what’s being said in order to hear what’s not being said.” – Terreon Gully “People miss out on a lot because they have expectations, so they're not able to appreciate what is. I think it's important, whether it's a concert, whether it's a movie, whether it's food, just see what it is and then go from there versus having expectations.” – Terreon Gully Connect with Terreon Gully: Website: https://terreongully.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terreongully / Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/terreontankgully/ Connect with Raquel Ark: www.listeningalchemy.com Mobile: + 491732340722 contact@listeningalchemy.com LinkedIn Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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What does it mean to truly listen in a way that has enormous impact, also in the business world?

When we commit to truly listening to someone, we open doors for quality connections that can lead to transformation and relationship satisfaction. It's through listening that we can build bridges of understanding, empathy, and trust that allow us to connect with people on a deeper level. This, in turn, positively impacts organizational outcomes.

In today's episode, we have a special guest, my good friend and mentor, Dr. Avi Kluger, who is a renowned expert in the field of listening and a great listener.

Dr. Avi Kluger is a professor of organizational behavior at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and his area of research focuses on the dangers of feedback and the benefits of listening in relationships and at work. Avi has published numerous studies on the topic of listening in leading publications, including a meta-analysis on the power of listening at work. He was the Director of the Executive MBA program of the School (2010-2014). In his capacity as a director, he put strong emphasis on helping executives develop soft skills (e.g., negotiation, listening, self-presentation) in addition to developing an integrative view of the business.

In this episode, Avi shares his insights on the definition of listening, which may surprise you. And that with listening, it may be hard, but the rewards of a deep and meaningful connection are more than worth it. If you commit to listen, you will find your relationships transform and flourish. Because then you open yourself up to the vulnerability of someone else's thoughts and emotions, and allow them to touch your heart. "Listening appears to create first and foremost good connections, good relationships, trust, and relationship satisfaction." - Avi Kluger

Listening SUPERPOWER Notes: 01:25 - One experience when he felt the power of listening truly working 04:32 - How listening creates quality connections that reduces depression, anxiety and fosters vigor for life 10:20 - Discussing a question included in a listening research paper: Can we get rid of the adjective? 12:30 - Defining listening: Devotion to being with the other. 19:18 - Getting a little deeper into what it means to decide to devote yourself into listening 22:20 - What makes listening so hard: Because you have to completely let go. 26:16 - How listening lays the foundation of good connection with the ripple effect of relationship satisfaction 29:53 - Creating a challenge through listening even when things are already going smoothly 31:05 - Avi imparting some gold of wisdom: You decide to listen. It's gonna be hard. If you commit yourself, you may find that your prison walls are moving away from you and you have much more freedom in your life.

• Notes/Mentions: Kluger, A. N., & Itzchakov, G. (2022). The power of listening at work. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 9, 121-146. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-012420-091013
• Jane Dutton: https://michiganross.umich.edu/faculty-research/faculty/jane-dutton
• Guy Itzchakov: https://listeningalchemy.com/listen-in/listening-research-and-its-power-with-associate-professor-guy-itzchakov/

Key Takeaways: "Those fleeting moments of high quality connection, something in us changes for the better and as a result of it, it's like a deposit in our mental wellbeing bank. It reminds us that we are connected, reduces our depression, anxieties, and provides us with vigor for life, combined with sometimes new understanding of ourselves, the world, or both." - Avi Kluger

"If you decide to devote yourself, it's a continuous decision, because this devotion could be for two minutes. It may disappear, you may bring it back and the devotion could be created by the listener, but it could also be created by the speaker." - Avi Kluger "Every time you go into this space of true connection with another human being, you're being transformed." - Avi Kluger "Many people are so lonely, entrenched in their own political camp. They cannot see the humanity of people from the other side, let alone listen to them." - Avi Kluger "We are sticking to what we know and to the worldview that we have. And this prison is serving us well. But the question is, is it well enough?" - Avi Kluger "While listening may take away time from work, it actually saves in the long term…a lot of time and creates better outcomes." - Avi Kluger "Once good relationships are created, more knowledge transfers in the organization, more positive attitudes are formed, like job satisfaction, motivation, and hence, and we see evidence of better performance, including objective measures of performance." - Avi Kluger

Connect with Avi Kluger:

Website: https://www.avi-kluger.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avikluger/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

www.listeningalchemy.com Mobile: + 491732340722 contact@listeningalchemy.com LinkedIn Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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Have you ever thought about how listening develops in children and how this connects with listening in leadership development? You might be surprised by what you discover from our guest today.

Marva Shand-McIntosh founded the I Love to Listen Day in 2005, and it's still going strong. This day is celebrated every year on May 16th. She is a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist as well as an international communication consultant who trains executive leaders, educators, youth leaders and parents in successful listening practices.

As a Certified Listening Professional, Marva has presented papers at international and national conferences. She also serves as a guest lecturer on listening at various university campuses, in churches and the community. Her professional activities include memberships in the ILA and the American Speech-Language Association.

I hope you are inspired with Marva just like I am in finding ways to raise the awareness of listening and inspiring communities and families on how they can listen to each other better. Even creating fun and creative ways and rituals that have long lasting effects.

Enjoy listening in.

"Whether or not we think we have a listening reputation, we do." - Marva Shand-McIntosh

Listening SUPERPOWER Notes:

01:07 - When Marva noticed the power of listening -- and how it indeed worked

04:42 - Knowing she is a listener by heart: It was my comfort zone when I was in a group or with other individuals, I just felt more comfortable being the listener, even though I could talk up a storm.

07:40 - What is it about a leader's listening reputation: As a leader at any level of leadership, we motivate, we encourage, we send the message to the workers that you are valued, and we appreciate you.

11:02 - The impact that listening has on Marva: The most impact on me is that listening is foundation work.

15:14 - One important thing she reminds herself of: Be the first to listen and listen first.

17:24 - Understanding the development stages of listening that starts from a mother's womb

23:19 - A deeper understanding of a teenage brain and why they're responding to other voices and not so much to their parents

25:37- Learning more about the 'silent period' that we go through in the development stages of listening

27:51 - Marva talks about the 'I Love to Listen Day' and the inspiration that started this inspiration. She shares ways it is celebrated and the impact it leaves on people

34:11 - Watch out for Marva's Listening Proclamation on her website which you can send to your family, local and national government

35:54 - Marva's heartfelt message to everyone: "When you get into an interaction, be that one person to be the first one to do the listening and to listen first because you're giving someone an opportunity to be understood."

Key Takeaways:

"Listening is motivating; and that's what we do as leaders." - Marva Shand-McIntosh

"If you can listen to teenagers, you can do it anywhere." - Marva Shand-McIntosh

"Listening is hard work. It's not intuitive and it is foundational and no one thinks about the foundation." - Marva Shand-McIntosh

"In language learning, when you move to another culture and you are acquiring the new language, you do go through that silent period and you are learning." - Marva Shand-McIntosh

"How we know (listening) is a powerful thing? When someone is misunderstood. It is the most stinging, the most disturbing experience." - Marva Shand-McIntosh

"Listening is a life and death matter in many cases. And in other cases people have missed opportunities that will never come back because your listening wasn't there." - Marva Shand-McIntosh

"As a leader, be that motivator and use listening to motivate others; as a parent do the same, because I would always say if you want to change the world, go home and listen. That is a great place to start." - Marva Shand-McIntosh

Notes/Mentions:

• Let’s celebrate 'I Love to Listen Day', click here: http://www.ilovetolisten.com/contact/

Connect with Marva Shand-McIntosh:

• Website: http://www.ilovetolisten.com/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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When it comes to Diversity and Inclusion, one hidden bias continues to hold businesses back: linguistic bias. This hidden bias affects much more than just non-offensive language, influencing the way we judge people from the moment they open their mouths.

Where do these biases come from? How do they hinder hiring and promotion decisions? How can businesses make sure their preference for eloquent speakers in leadership doesn't create barriers for certain groups?

This eye-opening talk delves deep into the issue of linguistic bias and its impact on businesses, providing insight into how this bias can be addressed and mitigated. By the end, you'll be speaking and listening to everyone around you in a whole new way.

Heather Hansen helps top global professionals show up, speak up, and inspire action in a changing world. She is on a mission to empower global voices to contribute to conversations that matter – in business, politics, and life. Only through conscious, confident, and connected communication can we achieve our collective potential and peacefully solve the world’s greatest challenges.

Heather is a leader in the field of global English communication and she is known for being an outspoken advocate for global voices. She fights against micro-inequities related to language and accent in international teams and helps companies build communication cultures where every voice is heard. She is called upon by some of the world’s largest companies to unmute leaders and teams so they can be more innovative, inclusive and efficient while adapting to modern challenges.

Heather’s 2018 TEDx talk titled 2 Billion Voices: How to speak bad English perfectly has had over 190,000 views and is used by many university professors and English language specialists in their own teachings. Heather is also an External Industry Expert in Communication for National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School’s Executive Education programs.

"The words are one thing. But there's so much more to it than that. We're really listening when we…have the cultural intelligence to understand and hear the meaning behind the message." - Heather Hansen

Listening SUPERPOWER Notes:

00:46 - Heather's biggest learning moments around listening the first time she was aware of it.

03:46 - Don't know what to say?: "You don't have to say anything; you can ask some really good questions very authentically."

04:56 - Heather's mission in life: "How do we make sure everyone's voice is heard at the table so that when that brilliance is spoken, we hear it and we understand it, and we act on it?"

06:06 - The huge shift in her listening perspective: "There is no one perfect proper English. We're all navigating and negotiating meaning in every conversation."

08:59 - How her voice changed in the process of helping people find their voices: "By stepping into helping people to express themselves more authentically has allowed me to be more authentic in my own communication."

10:35 - Cultural intelligence as a significant factor for noticing the real meaning behind the message.

13:24 -The kind of support we provide for people when it comes to accents for them to be more understood, more clear and have the confidence to show up.

17:15 - Getting the stress off about the accent and just focusing on the message.

18:53 - The idea behind Heather'sTEDX talk about 2 Billion Voices: How to speak bad English perfectly

21:08 - A big tip for someone who is speaking a second language: "Be very aware of the sounds and words that are difficult for you; have a list of alternatives available."

22:45 - Highlighting the importance of honing your listening abilities.

24:09 - Understanding microaggressions and how to deal with them.

27:28 - Overcoming prejudice based on accents and ensuring you are tapping into the potential of a person.

29:47 - Facilitating awareness of language and accent in organizations with multicultural teams: "Sit down with everyone individually, get a really good feel of them, build those relationships through listening."

32:52 - A key message for leaders and organizations encapsulated in Heather's book: Unmuted: How to Show Up, Speak Up, and Inspire Action

Note/Mentions:

• Unmuted: How to Show Up, Speak Up, and Inspire Action by Heather Hansen: https://heatherhansen.com/unmuted/
• TEDX Talk - 2 Billion Voices: How to speak bad English perfectly: https://www.ted.com/talks/heather_hansen_2_billion_voices_how_to_speak_bad_english_perfectly

Connect with Heather Hansen:

• Website: https://heatherhansen.com/

• Website: https://globalspeechacademy.com

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hansenheather/

• You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/c/heatherhansen
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/heatherhansen

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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What are the triggers that make you boiling mad? Do you notice what happens to you and the voices in your head when you feel like someone doesn’t understand you or does something “against” you? Do you want people to see and appreciate you for who you really are?

And how do we authentically become fully aware of what we deeply want and need so that we can communicate this clearly?

Mette Johansson (MBA, CSP, PCC) is a highly awarded author, speaker, and consultant. She worked in leadership roles for multinational corporations for 15 years before founding MetaMind, a training consultancy providing consulting and learning programs in the people side of leadership skills. She is the author of three Amazon bestsellers; "How to Make Yourself Promotable", "7 Skills to Help You Climb the Career Ladder", "MyVoice", as well as the co-author and ideator of “Unleash Your Voice", "Powerful Public Speaking for Every Woman”.

Mette is also the founder and relentless driver of the non-profit KeyNote – Women Speakers’ directory, with a mission to bring diversity to speaking stages around the world. Mette herself has spoken internationally on Authentic, Inspirational, and Inclusive Leadership at a wide variety of global conferences, corporations, and business schools. Her clients include Citibank, Airbnb, Microsoft, UPS, Pfizer, Capitaland, and many more. Having lived in 10 countries outside her birthplace, Denmark, Mette is a global citizen who speaks fluently in four languages and currently calls Singapore home.

In this episode, Mette explains that when we open our curiosity switch, we elicit stories from people and engage in a discovery conversation with them which helps us get to know each other better and interact with them more. Listening is not about being able to speak perfectly but about being understood. You don't have to fit in to be your authentic self, you just listen to yourself and just be you.

“Asking questions is so important…when you truly want to hear what's going on and to understand what's going on.” - Mette Johansson

Listening SUPERPOWER Notes:

00:26 - The first time Mette noticed the power of listening.

01:44 - From a shy girl to a professional speaker: "I wanted this change; I wanted to be more confident."

03:39 - What is authentic leadership as it relates to Mette's own journey: "Authentic leadership is very much about living according to your values."

07:09 - How her core value of empowerment plays into her designed life: "I want to empower others to be the best versions of themselves."

08:57 - Who helped her listen to herself and make a change?

11:45 - What she is teaching her younger self with the lessons she learned now.

13:32 - How does asking questions calm down those triggers in you?

19:29 - What it means to turn on your “people curiosity switch”: "You simply say, I'm going to discover something interesting about at least one person in this room today."

22:07 - People's curiosity as a neutralizer: "You can simply be that curious mind and not come in there with any preconceived notion of what the situation has to be or what that person has to be."

23:39 - Tips on how to listen to a larger audience and an online crowd: "It is a lot about observing the body language and it's also about asking questions."

26:32 - How your voice influences the quality of listening.

27:48 - Another good tip that helps your voice: Reading to young children at night. It's good practice for having a much more variety of voices."

30:00 - What is "KeyNote Women Speakers" all about?

34:51 - Advice to women with English as their second language: The key is to ensure that you are understood.

Key Takeaways:

"...traveling on my own…gave me confidence. When I could do things in different countries where I barely spoke the language, of course, I could also do these things at home." - Mette Johansson

“If you want to be an authentic leader, if you want to be authentic, feel authentic, and be perceived as authentic, the first thing is…listening to yourself. Ask yourself questions that will help you discover what is of core importance to you, your personal core values." - Mette Johansson

"Being you is so much more energy creating; it gives you energy rather than draining you when you're trying to fit in." - Mette Johansson

"When you're asking questions to the audience, you might not wait for the audience to answer every single time. But simply by asking questions, people tend to react much more." - Mette Johansson

Notes/Mentions:

• KeyNote Women Speakers: https://keynotewomen.com/

Connect with Mette Johansson:

• Website: https://www.mettejohansson.com/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/raquel-ark-b2067613/
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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As Raquel traveled back to Germany from visiting her family, she brought along stories that spoke volumes of her purpose in life – practicing and being surprised by our listening superpower. Reflecting on a routine she had while traveling as a younger person, she took time to look at the window from a cloud perspective and truly listen to what 2023 wanted to tell her.

With an open heart and mind to the possibilities of what 2023 has in store for her, she was surprised at an immense sense of gratitude. And she shares this with us on this episode.

True to her passion, she is continuing to advocate for more listening to take place - listening to ourselves, to others, and engaging others to listen to us.

In this episode, Raquel returns to the often-repeated question, “How do I get people to listen to me?” She offers us more practical tips on how to be a channel for people to lean in and listen to us and for us to listen more to ourselves.

“High-quality listening is when we listen with no judgment. And in our listening – we are interested, we are objective, we are neutral.” - Raquel Ark

Episode Recomendations:

• Upcoming episode with Mette Johansson on how to vary your voice – the tone of your voice, the quality of your voice that helps your audience to listen to you
• Ep17:Unlocking Your #Authentic Voice by #SpeakingYourTruth with Elissa Weinzimmer
• Ep09:Evidence on Listening Training and Workplace Performance with Guy Itzchakov
• Ep46. #Listening Research And Its Power With Associate Professor Guy Itzchakov

Listening SUPERPOWER Notes:

00:37 - A quick sharing of her vacation and great time catching up with the people she cared for

00:59 - Looking forward to having great podcast guests lined up for this new year

02:18 - Raquel's story of reliving childhood memories with fondness and getting the chance to listen to herself

04:09 - Listening to what 2023 wanted to bring for her: "A great sense of gratefulness for many things."[enumerating them here with you what she is so thankful for]

07:23 - Importance of varying your voice -- the tone and quality of your voice to make people listen to you

09:03 - Speaking like a box of chocolates

12:46 - Helping the person speaking to self-reflect where there's no judgment to reduce prejudice

13:28 - A quick discussion about research on high quality listening in diversity, equity, and inclusion

17:30 - How to approach a stakeholder with an extreme opinion: “One of the best things you can do at that moment is to practice high quality listening.”

Key Takeaways:

"One of the important things is to change your tone of voice. This varied voice helps people to stay interested and to listen to easier."- Raquel Ark

"You are asking questions that help them even understand themselves to think further." - Raquel Ark

Other Mentions:

• Journal of Experimental Social Psychology: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-experimental-social-psychology

• Can high quality listening predict lower speakers' prejudiced attitudes? By: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103120303620

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• https://listeningalchemy.com/
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn: Raquel Ark

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On the shortest day of the year, known as the Winter Solstice, Raquel takes a moment to reflect on 2022.

What brought you light this year? As the days start to get longer and extend, what would you like to extend further from 2022 into 2023?

And as we take the opportunity to reflect on the year, how can we continue to raise the opportunities for more listening, whether we are listening to ourselves, others or even helping people listen to us.

In this episode, Raquel was inspired to answer the most frequently asked question she was asked this year: ‘How do I get people to listen to me?’

Listen in as Raquel shares actionable tips to help you become a better listening facilitator to ensure that you are also listened to, and experienced by the people around you.

“When you want someone to listen to you, the best thing you can do is start by listening to them first. ‘- Raquel Ark

Topics Covered

01:11 - What’s unique with Winter Solstice: the shortest day of the year. It’s a great day to take time to reflect.

02:49 - Setting up the conversation through curiosity and intention. When you want someone to listen to you, the best thing you can do is listen to them first.

04:34 - Importance of preparation during meetings and conversations. And being very clear about your agenda

05:11 - Empathy and listening

06:50 - The most important thing you need to do at that moment is to be fully present

08:39 - Importance of checking in during the conversation. Ways to check for understanding, regardless of your audience

Episode Mentioned:

Cultivating the #ListenFirst Movement with Communications Scholar Graham Bodie

Key Takeaways

[on how to facilitate checking for understanding during meetings and conversations] “Find ways to check understanding. Just check in instead of rambling on. There's a very good chance that they did understand, but they thought of something else, or you were not clear enough.” - Raquel Ark

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• https://listeningalchemy.com/
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn: Raquel Ark

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Have you noticed how your co-workers or team seem to have difficulty listening well to each other, having different understandings of what is important? Do you want to know how you can help a group listen to what is actually emerging in discussions?

Visualize it.

In today’s episode, our guest talks about how listening is a way for you to recognize something bigger inside yourself and the group. Visualizing while listening is something you can do to help fully grasp what is being said and what is emerging in the group.

Listening is an art where you can visualize it and see its beauty.

So how do you do this?

Visual Facilitator, Vanessa Jane Smith is from New Zealand with a background in communications, organizational development, training, and coaching. She blends leadership coaching & visual facilitation creating an approach which creatively disrupts routine thinking, inspiring human potential development. She works with groups to generate new ideas, stories and approaches, aligning diverse interests.

Vanessa has facilitated high profile conferences such as The Vatican’s Multi-Denominational Conference on Religions and SDGs, Italy; New Economy for Social Innovation (NESI), Spain; co-creating the new story in a Human Potential development training at Teach for America, USA. She has also worked in breakthrough Creative Leadership Programmes with the Oil and Gas Industries and Banking Sectors throughout Europe.

In this episode, Vanessa shares the big impact and effective results of listening, whether you’re listening to someone, a group of people, or maybe your team. Vanessa presents to you a ground-breaking and unique way of grasping the message of what you listen to through visualization. She also shares her experience on how she came to notice the power of listening and discover the ‘listening and visualization’ technique.

“It's such a magic field. So much is possible when we listen.”

- Vanessa Jane Smith

Listen IN Notes:

01:11 - “Listening beyond the words”: When did Vanessa first notice the power of listening

06:41 - It became a superpower: What she learned about listening that she didn't realize before

08:42 - Vanessa shares how listening changes your perspective and understanding of things

11:02 - “This isn't about the pictures, this is about the quality of listening”: Vanessa talks about how she learned her listening and visualization technique

19:21 - “Feeling inside and then feeling outside”: Vanessa shares how to apply listening in big organizations

23:07 - Drawing on a blank sheet: How can you visualize listening?

26:55 - “There is such a power in this moment:” Vanessa tells us how listening is an open door to the different types of future

29:59 - Vanessa talks about the big impacts and results of listening to your team

33:37 - “Recognizing something more inside yourself”: Vanessa shares people’s realizations after doing the visual technique

38:08 - Vanessa’s message to you: Give it time. Give it space. Space is the great creator. And get out of the way of it. Let it be there, and then make sense of it.

39:38 - Today’s lesson: “Get out of your own way and become present without judgment.”

46:53 - Vanessa shares what are her BE THE CHANGE cards and how they can help you

Key Takeaways:

“I have learned that listening is almost multi-dimensional. It really is a superpower. It's a guide to what's going on, on the inside, as much as it is a guide to what's going on on the outside. It heals.” - Vanessa Jane Smith

“The key here is listening, and really listening beyond what you think is supposed to be there.” - Vanessa Jane Smith

“We're just not literally seeing a picture. We're all walking around with what someone said at the beginning of the day, although we might have forgotten. It's still there somehow.” - Vanessa Jane Smith

“If you're looking for some really bigger results, then you have to do the opposite of what you think you have to do as an event organizer, or whatever it is. And you have to sort of slow down and give people way more space to do this delicate work.” - Vanessa Jane Smith

“You're never going to create anything new if you stay in the center of yourself where everything is fixed, correct, and right.” - Vanessa Jane Smith

Notes/Mentions:

• BE THE CHANGE cards: https://craftingconnection.com/?page_id=3426

Connect with Vanessa Jane Smith:

• Website: https://craftingconnection.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-jane-smith-50a10820
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/craftingconnection/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/vanessacoach

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn
• Podcast email: listeningsuperpower@gmail.com

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Have you ever thought you would not be an effective leader just because you are a naturally quiet person? Or are you only recruiting leaders who are outspoken and seem confident?

We have long been stuck in a narrow and outdated view of what good leadership looks, sounds, and feels like. Often we assume there's a correlation between confidence and competence. We have disregarded quiet people’s great potential to be of positive impact just because we think they’re too shy to lead the change.

This is a myth.

According to our guest in episode 53, listening is a leadership responsibility. And quietly powerful leaders use their quiet superpower towards better decision-making, more empowered and engaged teams, and high-quality outcomes.

Listen to your listening SUPERPOWER podcast to understand why and how to tap into this potential.

Megumi Miki is an author, speaker, and consultant in leadership and culture, with a background in strategy, economics, and finance. Through her book “Quietly Powerful: How Your Quiet Nature is Your Leadership Strength”, keynote presentations, one-on-one, and group coaching programs, Megumi has reached thousands of people globally and helped individuals to see their own leadership potential, lead authentically, and have an impact. She challenges our subconscious beliefs about what good leadership looks, sounds, and feels like.

Megumi brings together 20+ years of experience in leadership development, organizational development, change and business strategy as she helps leaders and organizations unlock dormant potential by evolving to be smart together rather than being smart on our own.

In this episode, Megumi discusses how quiet people are powerful and effective leaders as she shares stories inspired from her book, “Quietly Powerful”. Also, Megumi enumerates actionable tips for you to try as a leader in an organization, even if you are quiet. In this week’s episode, learn about the importance of becoming present in conversations and why confidence shouldn’t be compared to competence.

“Listening is a leadership responsibility, not just a nice thing to do when there’s some time to listen.”

– Megumi Miki

Listen IN Notes:

00:11 – “Listen to the whole rather than just the words”: The moments that helped Megumi to notice the power of listening, and how she trained herself from then on to become a better listener

03:07 – From victim to power: Seeing how much of a superpower the survival kind of listening is along with the importance of paying attention to the essence of a conversation

07:42 – A piece of advice from Megumi: “Stay curious, because whatever you know, if you continue to speak, that’s all you get – what you know. But if you actually listen, then you might learn something new.”

10:39 – How your quiet nature is your hidden leadership strength: Megumi shares the motivation behind her book, “Quietly Powerful”

16:51 – Listening = Effective leadership: How creating a listening environment where people feel safe and free to speak paves way for positive impact in an organization

21:33 – “You can hear all the words, but if you’re not influenced, then you’re not really listening”: Why you should be present as you listen

.

28:30 – Learn from interviews Megumi did for her book and the Leadership Stories on what leaders have done to be able to effectively listen and catch critical topics

31:01 – To-do list on developing the superpower: Megumi shares why people are quiet along with the attributes to embody in order to be seen as a leader

40:49 – Today’s plot twist: “Just because you’re quiet doesn’t mean you listen well.”

42:52 – Connect with Megumi Miki

Key Takeaways:

“The tip would be to stay curious, because whatever you know, if you continue to speak, that’s all you get – what you know. But if you actually listen, then you might learn something new. It does take a bit more effort, because what it means when you listen is that you have to integrate both what you’re thinking and what other people are saying. It takes more courage, more skill, and more intellectual brainpower.” – Megumi Miki

“You can hear all the words, but if you’re not influenced, then you’re not really listening.” – Megumi Miki

Notes/Mentions:

• Quietly Powerful: https://www.quietlypowerful.com.au/book/

Connect with Megumi Miki:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megumimiki/
• Website: http://www.quietlypowerful.com.au

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Achieving optimal results for ourselves and the organization requires engaging in authentic conversations. This involves listening that is not driven by fear, but by maximizing curiosity. And listening by curiosity motivates change, especially when it comes to receiving and processing feedback.

Best-selling author, executive coach, and keynote speaker Dr. Craig Dowden is bridging the gap between what science knows and what leaders do. In his work, he integrates evidence-based principles from the fields of positive psychology with those in leadership and organizational excellence.

In this episode, Craig discusses how authentic conversations can take place to achieve success in business. And how great leadership starts with self-leadership. While listening with curiosity, not only does this help us to understand people's inner worlds, we also learn so much about ourselves. He also shares powerful tips on receiving and processing feedback.

"It's more vital than ever before to create space for listening. It's to listen to ourselves and to listen to others. To figure things out, we need everybody on board. And I'm an important part of that; that great leadership starts with self-leadership." - Craig Dowden

Listening SUPERPOWER podcast Notes:

00:26 - That instance when he first noticed the power of listening: It's the earliest stages of my life and it's what prompted me to do advanced studies in psychology.

01:57 - How soon did he pursue psychology?

03:50 - What it means to be part of the conversation: I love to get everybody's perspectives on the table. I love truly understanding where other people are coming from and unlocking the secrets to their inner world.

06:06 - Travel as a rewarding experience to immerse oneself in conversation

06:54 - Connecting individuals with organizational personalities: It's that intersection between who I am, what my values are, what my preferences are, and my personality and how that intersects within the organization.

13:25 - What authentic conversations boil down to: Many times, we throw around words, and values and wrap ourselves up like a security blanket in them. Yet, from a listening standpoint, we need to go deeper. Now that we've said these wonderfully aspirational things, what do they mean to me, to you, and together?

17:33 - Understanding how people on both ends of the listening spectrum agree on the same values but have different expectations of each other's behavior.

21:45 - What is positive leadership in connection with positive psychology?

23:30 - What Craig's book, A Time to Lead, is all about: The big idea within this book was great leadership starts with great self-leadership.

27:06 - What it means to listen to ourselves by having others listen to us: It's about listening to ourselves and listening to others; both perspectives are vital.

35:58 - Listening from a place of curiosity rather than fear: One of the benefits of turning to curiosity is that we're in the best space to learn and gain access to things that will be most vital for us to figure out what needs to happen in this situation.

38:15 - How the power of mindset [curiosity] and change in behavior can bring about change somewhere else.

40:31 - Two most powerful tips on receiving feedback

43:33 - Processing and addressing feedback received

45:26 - One surprising thing about his line of work: One of the big pieces that have come out of this and just continues to be reinforced over and over and over again is being comfortable with, 'I don't know'.

47:56 - How he sees the future of leadership: It's going to be even heavier on the humanistic and the connectivity side, and appreciating what that means and how we're going to manifest that.

49:22 - Sharing one significant insight: The idea of living our lives personally and professionally like scientists so that every day we go out and engage with our world personally and professionally. It maximizes curiosity and ensures that we take a listening approach.

Key Takeaways:

"I love to get everybody's perspectives on the table; I love to truly understand where other people are coming from and unlock the secrets to their inner world." - Craig Dowden

"Not only do I have a chance to get to know someone on a deeper level…it enables me to get to know myself at a deeper level and to learn because when people share different perspectives on topics or situations, it invariably puts a mirror up to your own perspective." - Craig Dowden

"Heightening our listening so that we can see how…I may reframe my relationship with my organization, or what is truly going on here, so I can better understand. And so when you bring those two things together, that's the secret sauce for individual and collective excellence. - Craig Dowden

"The more we listen to others, the more we look to access their talents, strengths, and ideas, and the better we're all served by this." - Craig Dowden

"What are the things that we must be committed to, to master within ourselves? It's a life-long journey, so that…when we're called upon to exercise leadership, we are our best selves." - Craig Dowden

"When we've stepped back and say, “I'm going to start the conversation with curiosity and going to help maintain it.”, there are just so many benefits, and there's learning attached."- Craig Dowden

"Be mindful of throwing out feedback just because of WHO shared it with us." - Craig Dowden

Quoting Douglas Stone:

"Often, when we receive feedback, our instinct is to look for what's wrong with it. Rather than asking what's wrong with this feedback, we would serve ourselves better by asking what's right about it."

"The harder the feedback for us to hear, the longer we want to sit with it and look to learn because, chances are, it's connecting into an identity piece for us."

Notes / Mentions:

• Do Good To Lead Well by Craig Dowden: https://craigdowden.com/the-book/

• A Time to Lead by Craig Dowden: https://www.amazon.com/Time-Lead-Mastering-Master-World/dp/1637630751

• Barbara Fredrickson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Fredrickson

• Douglas Stone: https://www.pon.harvard.edu/faculty/douglas-stone/

Connect with Craig Dowden:

• https://craigdowden.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigdowden/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• https://listeningalchemy.com/
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• listeningsuperpower@gmail.com
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn: Raquel Ark

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In a noisy world with so many distractions pulling us in different directions, it is easy to get lost and not make sense of what people are trying to communicate. This is true for both the person listening and the one being listened to. Listening with purposeful intention and saying the most important things first helps communication be clear and concise, having more impact.

Joe McCormack is on a mission to help organizations master lean communication. In an age of shrinking attention spans, non-stop interruptions, and floods of information our messages are getting lost in a sea of words.

An experienced marketing executive, successful entrepreneur, and author, Joe is recognized for his work in narrative messaging and strategic communications. His book, “BRIEF: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less” (Wiley, 2014) tackles the timeliness of the “less is more” mandate. Because even expert communication can be thwarted by an audience that has lost the capacity to pay attention, he follows up with a pragmatic guide to managing a distraction-filled environment in “NOISE: Living and leading when nobody can focus” (Wiley, 2020).

He speaks at diverse industry and client forums on the topics of brevity, storytelling, change and leadership. A passionate leader, he founded The BRIEF Lab in 2013 after years dedicated to developing and delivering a unique curriculum on executive communications for U.S. Army Special Operations Command (Ft. Bragg, NC). He actively counsels military leaders and senior executives on effective, efficient communication and produces a weekly podcast series called “Just Saying”.

In this episode, Joe shares how to listen and how to speak so that our communication has more impact, especially in an environment of information overload and time-pressure. Being prepared to communicate (he shares how!) and deciding to get interested in what you are about to hear, not just choosing what you want to hear makes all the difference.. As you get interested, you become interesting, because people who listen well are interesting.

"Listening is like seeing; it's purposeful listening versus general listening." - Joe McCormack

Listening SUPERPOWER podcast Notes:

00:20 - The time Joe started noticing the power of listening: You can't summarize what you didn't hear. You visit a conference and are asked afterwards, “Well, what did they talk about?” If you didn't hear it, you can't summarize it. And that triggered in me: How am I listening at that moment so that I can provide the summary?

01:27 - Joe shares examples of summarizing based on listening with purpose when having conversations with clients: As you talk to people a lot, you have to sit down and write down notes at the end of those moments. Listening well makes writing notes easier.

03:16 - Listening “Aha moments”: If you think about journalists, they're professional listeners. Their job is to listen, but they're listening for a story. Their listening is very intune.

05:22 - Listening for the story boils down to: "If you had to create a headline or a title of the story, when you listen, you're listening for the title. You have a purpose now; the why you listen."

08:38 - What makes listening fun and interesting: If you're listening to something interesting, it's easy. And if you look at listening to something as complicated and messy and confusing it makes listening very difficult.

10:42 - Being interested versus being interesting: Think about how many people you know that are really good listeners; that list is very, very small. If you could be one of those people, you're immediately one of the most interesting people.

18:12 - How to get those in higher positions to listen to us: "I'm saying the most important thing first, and that's managing his or her listening at that moment, right away."

20:40 - The most surprising thing people find when Joe does training: Nobody's listening to them. Leaders in different positions of authority and responsibility think they're clear communicators. But if you talk to the people they're communicating with, very few of them find them interesting and clear.

22: 58- Making more collaborative moments in meetings: I love meetings that are designed in advance with an agenda. They're great conversations about important topics."

25:28 - The yearning for time to think: It's like an appointment like any other appointment, going to the dentist; you schedule the appointment for 10 minutes. Think about that thing for 10 minutes. And then you're done.

28:40 - Helping people to listen to you with ease: Let a person know what you're talking about while telling them what they need to do. And then, the conversation can be clearer and shorter. If you do that, you've just managed the person's listening.

36:47 - Advice he would give his younger self: "You can practice this [listening] every day with people without them even knowing; it's not just a work thing. It's a life thing.”

38:15 - Big takeaway for listeners: Listening is a gift best given in the moment.

Key Takeaways:

"When you start to listen to conversations like you're a journalist, imagine if, at the end of a conversation, you had to write a story about the conversation. Your listening is different." - Joe McCormack

"People enjoy conversations when people are listening. But often, they don't listen because they have no purpose to what they're listening for." - Joe McCormack

"If you're talking too much, and you're unclear, it makes listening very difficult." - Joe McCormack

"When you give a purpose [to listening], it doesn't make it easy. It makes it easier." - Joe McCormack

"It's a part of your professional responsibility to listen because your colleagues, your boss, your customers…are telling you things. But you're not even listening because you don't feel like it? The decision to be interested is a decision more than a feeling." - Joe McCormack

"You have to make sure that you prepare before you communicate." - Joe McCormack

Notes / Mentions:

• Quiet Works: https://thequietworkplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Quiet-Works-Position-Paper.pdf
• Noise: https://thebrieflab.com/noise/
• Brief: https://thebrieflab.com/book_brief/

Connect with Joe McCormack:

• https://thebrieflab.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephpmccormack/
• https://thebrieflab.com/
• https://thebrieflab.com/blog/
• https://podcast.thebrieflab.com/
• linkedin.com/in/josephpmccormack
• https://www.facebook.com/thebrieflab/
• https://www.instagram.com/thebrieflab/
• https://thequietworkplace.com/
• https://www.instagram.com/thequietworkplace/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• https://listeningalchemy.com/
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• listeningsuperpower@gmail.com
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn: Raquel Ark

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Listen in podcast has reached a milestone, and we're celebrating!

You're in for a treat, of course. You’ve heard Raquel mention her son, Luke, often in the interviews. How about Luke interviewing his mother, Raquel, for a change?

The tables are turned, and Raquel becomes the interviewee.

Get an inside look at Raquel's journey into podcasting. She candidly answers her son's (Luke) questions, revealing the reasons why she decided to start a podcast, the change it made in her, and the realizations it led her guests to, even when they are experts in their fields. And what it has brought to her listeners' lives.

Also, we get to see what a kind-hearted and friendly-natured human she is, striking up warm conversations with strangers wherever she goes as if it’s second nature to her.

As part of this 50th episode, Raquel also shares a few changes to the show's format you can expect moving forward.

Join the fun and enjoy a lighthearted mother-son banter unveiling this warmhearted, playful mother-son dynamic as Luke puts his mom in the spotlight.

"What matters to me most, is my way to try to have some impact in the world in a positive way." - Raquel Ark

Listen IN Notes:

01:50 - Celebrating the 50th episode with a new podcast show title and with a surprise guest interviewer this time

04:31 - The reason behind her getting into podcasting and how many years since she first started to think about podcasting.

05:20 - What she considers her favorite moments in her podcasting journey: My favorite moments are when I am interviewing the guests. And they are surprised by the question.

06:38 - Does she even prepare before the podcast: I have to prepare myself mentally, so I'm really there. And that's the most important part at that moment of the interview.

07:03 - Raquel’s dream guests: I would love to interview Brene Brown down the road. It doesn't only have to be famous people; I love interviewing people who put this listening thing into practice, not just talking about it.

08:27 - How podcasting changes her: I think my interviewing skills have gotten better over time. And I learn something from every single person.

09:24 - What she hopes from listeners of her podcast: That it really opens people's minds to what listening is, what's possible with listening, and the potential of listening.

10:44 - The thing that matters most to her about having the podcast: This is my way to try to have some impact in the world in a positive way.

11:44 - Best feedback she has gotten: I get emails from different people who just point out what made a difference for them.

13:00 - Improvement she sees over the past years with the podcast: I got better with some of the questions even though I'm not really strict with time, I try to stick to 40 minutes.

13:30 - What to expect from the new podcast format: I want to shorten the introduction. I want to keep having these deep conversations. And I've also thought about adding shorter podcasts every so often where I'm answering questions I get from people.

14:22 - Reason to celebrate her podcast show: Only 30% of podcasts make it past six or seven episodes. The fact that this podcast is more than three years is a very big deal.

15:24 - What she's proud about: If I look at my guests and listeners, I have people from all over the world, all different cultures, different places.

18:10 - Raquel asking Luke for a possible guest appearance together with his friends, which topic they would discuss, and guests suggestions.

Key Takeaways:

"What I love is when the guests come as experts, but they discover something new." - Raquel Ark

[on bringing on guest] "It doesn't only have to be famous people. I actually love interviewing people who are just pioneering things and trying new things or doing things differently or thinking for themselves and seeing how they are really putting this listening thing into practice… not just talking about it." - Raquel Ark

[the impact of Listen In on Raquel ] "I use what I learn in my work or refer my podcast to people I coach or my students. Every guest I've had has influenced me in some way that has helped me improve at what I do. And sometimes better at listening as a mom, even though I know, I'm still struggling at that." - Raquel Ark

"I hope it inspires people to try (listening) out in a playful way, in new ways at work and home. And to know that we have new ways we can try every day." - Raquel Ark

"I love the feedback that comes from people where they said…this is something I'm going to try out, or I did try it out and it really made a difference." - Raquel Ark

"This podcast, even though it is very niche; I'm in the top 10%." - Raquel Ark

Notes/Mentions:

• Brene Brown: https://brenebrown.com

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• https://listeningalchemy.com/
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn: Raquel Ark

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Hello everyone. My name is Raquel Ark.

I am the host of the Listen in with Raquel Ark podcast, and this podcast has been around, I can't believe it, for over three years, and I'm coming up to the 50th podcast. Started as a hobby and has turned into a passion.

Originally, when I started the podcast, I was having amazing conversations with authors, leaders, with scientists about listening because I was trying to discover the superpower of listening, and I thought if I could bring this conversation and record it and share it with others these things that I'm learning, Maybe that will help catalyze this listing movement that so many of us are trying to support.

So the name came through a little collaboration I had with a girlfriend of mine over a cup of coffee where she's like, ‘Oh, how about listen in.’

Listen in is about listening in to a conversation. It's about. Listening in that self-reflection where you go inward and reflect on what you're discovering, but it's also about listing, and that's how we came up with the name in the beginning.

But what we're realizing after this, after three years, is when you do a search on Listen in’, there are so many listen-ins now that there weren't. Back then, and it's not always easy to find.

So in the new rebranding, we're gonna look at a title and some branding that will make it clearer so that more people can reach this podcast and so that we can catalyze even more listening together.

I hope you stay with me. We're gonna keep doing interviews. If you know of people who you would love to have interviewed who would be great for this podcast, please reach out.

If you love the podcast and you want more people to become better listeners, then please share and rate the podcast. Anything you can do to help catalyze a listening movement together would be awesome. In the meantime, keep doing your theme, keep listing having fun, and you'll hear from me very soon.

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How can we listen well when we have limited time and high demands?

This is an important question across all types of organizations.

And especially in the medical environment, have a potential life and death answer.

The ability of health providers to listen is key to enhancing the patient experience and giving quality health care.

Dr. Krishna Naineni (Nigh- Nay- Knee) is a General Practitioner (GP) in the southeast of England. He is a Member of the Royal College of General Practitioners and a faculty at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. He is a passionate medical educator with interest in listening-centered clinical communication.

Currently, he is serving as a Chair of International Listening Association's Healthcare team. As a Certified ECHO Listening Practitioner, Krishna is encouraging healthcare professionals to establish intelligent listening units in their respective workplaces.

He is a co-founder of Glocal Academy which has been instrumental in delivering custom-made listening-centered clinical communication skills training programs to healthcare professionals and organizations India and UK.

In this episode, Dr. Naineni unravels his own discoveries, difficulties, and experiences in clinical listening. He shares how transformative it is to truly listen to patients and colleagues despite the constraints of time. He also shares the techniques he uses to reframe his thinking for effective diagnosis’ and a better doctor-patient relationships.

“We all have the capacity to listen well. Believe in the magic of listening. The act of listening is the greatest gift that you can give.” - Dr. Krishna Naineni

Listen In Notes

00:00 - The power of listening. Dr. Krishna Shares how his communication struggles propelled him to work on his listening skills.

05:10 - The role of listening in the medical healthcare system.

06:42 - The constraints of time vs. the optimized listening. Dr. Krishna shares how one mindset shift can make it possible to provide a better patient experience.

09:35 - The journey for self-improvement and internal work.

16:24 - The hunger to learn. Dr. Krishna reveals how teaching in the medical industry made him see the new generation of doctors’ tenacity to improve on listening.

19:04 - Cultivating doctor-patient relationships through listening. Dr. Krishna reveals the effects of letting the patients share more during the consultation.

33:00 - Team Rambo Journal Club. Dr. Krishna shares the group that they made to support medical students in healthcare communication or listening.

39:00 - “Negation” as a tool. Dr. Krishna shares one of his learnings from J. Krishnamurti, “Through NEGATION, that thing which alone is the positive comes into being."

Key Takeaways:

(on the impact of slowing down) “When I slowed down, I was more present. And people were more forthcoming with their concerns…with the real problems and real issues. And they were more engaging with the things that I was sharing with them."- Dr. Krishna Naineni

"To work in 21st, dynamic healthcare setting…you need to have an element of bravery. You need to be courageous to defy the challenges. And most importantly, the openness. So R-esponsibility, A-daptability, M-otivation, B-ravery, and O-penness becomes RAMBO."- Dr. Krishna Naineni

“If you want to listen to the person in front of you, you must stop listening to you.”- Dr. Krishna Naineni

Resources and People Mentioned:

• On God by J. Krishnamurti https://store.kfoundation.org/books/books-by-j-krishnamurti/series-theme-books/on-god

• The Awakening of Intelligence by J. Krishnamurti https://www.amazon.com/Awakening-Intelligence-Jiddu-Krishnamurti/dp/0060648341

Connect with Dr. Krishna Naineni

• E-mail: glocalacademyuk@gmail.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/glocalacademyuk/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• https://listeningalchemy.com/
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn: Raquel Ark

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How can listening to yourself be an ultimate superpower to live the life you want?

Robbie Swale is a leadership coach, author, and podcaster, whose work focuses on creativity, coaching, and leading with honor. His time is split between his coaching business, writing, and various associate work. He supports coaches to grow their businesses and impact and thrive as people, via a community for coaches and a podcast. An ability to see things differently, understand different perspectives and see the truth in the world without the fear to do or say the right thing is the reason why coaches choose to collaborate with him.

In this episode, Robbie shares his journey on how he developed the 12-minute method while discovering how listening can be used as a superpower when it comes to truly live the life we really want. He also shares about the struggles and resistance he has overcome to be able to make an impact through his writing and how this helps him fuel his creative impulses.

Robbie also emphasizes the importance of consistency in building good habits. He realized how writing consistently for 12 minutes over time developed a practice of listening to that surprised him. And it helped him get things done and move him forward, even amidst his fears.

Robbie is the author of How to START when you're STUCK and How to KEEP GOING when you want to GIVE UP, as part of a series that have come out of his 12 Minute Method. These books provide practical inspiration to get your idea off the ground and help you create good habits and stay focused - even when it's hard.

“6 years of creating, sharing, and of consistency. I’ve never put my mind to something, created a habit, and kept it before this. And now I know I’m somebody who can do that, and that’s transformational.” - Robbie Swale

Listen IN Notes:

5:54 - How listening and writing have impacted Robbie's life

7:06 - “Whose words were those?” - prompt for practicing self-listening, Listen to your inner voice and ask a few questions to deepen your understanding.

14:33 - All about listening to your creative impulse and listening to yourself

25:19 - Listening made simple: listening to ourselves in relation to developing confidence

28:49 - Getting to know the voices in your head. To practice that self-listening, and writing whether it’s for yourself or for somebody else. To practice self-listening and writing from a place of clarity, incisiveness, and compassion.

37: 47 - All about the act of inertia, creating a change in our organization for the better, be working just a little bit on a project that you think would really serve the customers that aren't being served in this way.

38:06 - The impact of doubt on the experience of regret. Regret can feel overwhelming, but it is worth pausing to ask yourself: is my current thought pattern feeling like regret, what can I do about it?

42:42- The importance of getting yourself off the hook from all the outcomes that you think you want because you can’t predict creativity, change, or organization.

Key Takeaways:

“The good rule of thumb is that the places where we feel the most resistance, the most fear, where we do the most procrastination are the most important places for our soul’s evolution.”

• The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

“Everybody has the voices that tell them, “You're not the person to do this.”

One of the games, the way to deal with that, is you don’t have to listen to those voices…because we have some voices in our heads that may come from fear and mostly that fear isn’t real. “- Robbie Swale

“If you write how you think, then as you practice writing, you get better at that, then you also get better at thinking. And if you write how you speak, then you also get better at speaking.” - Robbie Swale

Those conversations (with listening) give me amazing energy. - Robbie Swale

When I am writing, I feel like I am listening beyond myself. - Robbie Swale

A small amount of time once a week has a much bigger impact than I expected. - Robbie Swale

What would be exactly enough time and not a second more to make some progress? - Robbie Swale

Notes/Mentions:

• Raquel Ark’s featured interview at The Coach’s Journey Podcast – Listening Alchemy And The Gold Beyond Words
• Raquel’s interview with mutual friend Colin Smith, Stop doing listening and start being listening
• Jim Dethmer, Kaley Klemp, and Diana Chapman’s “15 commitments of Conscious Leadership”
• Steven Pressfield’s “War of Art”
• Robert Holden

Connect with Robbie Swale:

• Website: https://www.robbieswale.com/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobbieSwale
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbieswale/
• Podcast: https://anchor.fm/12-minute-method

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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How can you get more value through team collaboration and understanding what your customer really needs?

Teresa Torres is an internationally acclaimed author, speaker, and coach who helps teams gain valuable insights from their customer interviews, run effective product experiments, and drive product outcomes that create value for their customers and their businesses. She teaches teams how to connect the dots between their research activities and their product decisions, inspiring confidence that they are on the right track.

In this episode, Teresa shares her experience about how listening is filtered by what we hear based on our past experience and knowledge. If you are working on a team to listen to customer needs, it’s only natural that we have different perceptions of what happened in a customer interview. Instead of discussing who is right and who is wrong, what if everyone saw one piece of the puzzle. Instead, how can we listen to and synthesize information in a structured way to create products the customers will really use?

Teresa discusses the importance of listening in the context of business as she relates it to the work she does at Product Talk, where she helps teams uncover their customers’ underlying needs through story-based interviewing.

Teresa is the author of Continuous Discovery Habits, the product trio's guide to a structured and sustainable approach to continuous discovery. This book shows teams how to start with a clear outcome, interview to discover opportunities, and test assumptions to quickly evaluate solutions.

“It's that detail that uncovers needs and pain points, but it really requires the structured mindset to have that patience and to do that work to uncover the full story.”

– Teresa Torres

Listen IN Notes:

00:00 – Listening as a superpower: Teresa shares the story on how she first became awarene on the power of listening, especially in the context of business

05:12 – Freeing oneself from the curse of knowledge: The inspiration behind her book, Continuous Discovery Habits

09:01 – How to create value: Teresa discusses the importance of conducting regular interviews with both the companies’ customers and executives as she explains the concept behind story-based interviewing

16:39 – Learn from Teresa: How does Teresa interview a customer? How can you know that you’re interviewing people well?

20:17 – “Participant and interviewer fatigue are real things”: How much time should one spend to get all the details and uncover pain points?

22:53 – Get more value through collaboration: The benefits of having the product trio work on an interview altogether

25:00 – Visualize your thinking: Teresa explains the concept behind her visual, the Opportunity Solution Tree

28:57 – Where the synthesis happens: Individually mapping out then sharing things within the team to find commonalities afterwards to avoid group-thinking

31:54 – Learn from Teresa: How do you get someone to keep wanting to be interviewed?

35:04 – “I think the core reason why we don't listen very well in business contexts is because we're doing too much”

39:48 – Then and Now: Skills Teresa developed through the time she’s spent in her craft

43:24 – It’s hard but it’s worth it: “We rarely think this hard in business, but critical thinking is absolutely required to really understand what we heard.”

Key Takeaways:

“Listening is a big part of (product development)...visualizing helps us verify that we heard the right thing.” – Teresa Torres

“If you actually focus on collecting a story and your interview is all about your customer and not about your product, not about how great your solution is, most of the time, your customer will ask you at the end of that interview when they can do it again. And it's because we're so rarely listened to.” – Teresa Torres

“It turns out humans love talking about themselves, so interviewing actually ends up being this really positive experience for the customer and inevitably they want to do it again.” – Teresa Torres

“Get really good at story-based interviewing, because then it's not a favor; customers actually feel like it's a treat.” – Teresa Torres

“It’s not about I heard something right and you heard something wrong. It's about we heard two different things. How do we get as close as possible to what the other person intended, and recognizing we may not ever get 100% there.” – Teresa Torres

Notes/Mentions:

• Product Talk: https://www.producttalk.org/
• Continuous Discovery Habits: https://www.producttalk.org/2021/05/continuous-discovery-habits/
• Opportunity Solution Tree: https://www.producttalk.org/opportunity-solution-tree/

Connect with Teresa Torres:

• Website: https://www.producttalk.org/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ttorres/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teresatorres/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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High-quality listening has a lot of power to impact challenging conversations, engagement, and burnout. And we are only at the beginning of learning about the potential of listening and what is possible. In this episode, we dive into current research and open questions.

Guy Itzchakov, an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Services at University of Haifa, shares what he is discovering empirically about listening. His research focuses on high quality listening as an avenue for growth at individual and organizational levels. He also studies attitude ambivalence, attitude-behavior relationships, and goal setting. Guy graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy - PhD focused in General Business Administration and Management from The Hebrew University.

In this episode, Guy shares how cultivating a climate of listening and genuinely getting interested in other people helps motivation, engagement, provides higher psychological safety that help avoid emotional exhaustion, and lowers turnover in an organization.

"When you listen, you are not invisible. On the contrary, you are actually the one who sets the tone." - Guy Itzchakov

Listen IN Notes:

01:13 - What he is discovering further about listening after the last podcast recording: "The more I study listening, the more I realize how much depth this topic has, and how much there is more to discover."

04:24 - Differentiating in-person versus online listening

11:23 - Sharing studies about how speakers are affected by being listened to.

18:26 - Looking forward to the day when people discover the benefits of effective listening though experiences

20:39 - Talking about a project published recently:

Whether being listened to can reduce a speaker's loneliness when they talk about being socially rejected.

24:35 - Difference between moderate listening and high quality listening

27:51 - Manager listening versus colleague listening

32:16 - Touching on research about how to sell ideas to stakeholders

34:35 - What often happens when we wait before we reply, listen before we react

35:50 - What managers in organizations can do to support listening: "I think first is awareness of the importance of listening."

38:34 - Getting an idea of what a listening climate looks like

42:19 - How to listen in disagreements

48:53 - Talking about the concept of self-insight

50:19 - What good listening can do to disagreements: "I think it can create more harmony during the disagreement."

54:11 - How to do more effective listening

57:27 - Cultivating a listening attitude and having genuine interest in other people and in what they say

Key Takeaways:

"When speakers felt listened to well, versus in the moderate level, they reported less deep loneliness." - Guy Itzchakov

"When you talk about the evidence of listening in the organization, it's the realization of how listening is important. That listening is not passive behavior. It's not just you being silent and nodding your head…It's much more." - Guy Itzchakov

"When cultivating a listening climate, it's not enough that the manager says , 'You know, I have an open door policy, you can talk to me whenever you want'. They need to show it." - Guy Itzchakov

"Listening during disagreements leads to a higher sense of connection as perceived by the speaker with the listener, more knowledge about one's attitude, self-insights, and it has downstream effects on the structure of the attitude." - Guy Itzchakov

"I don't think listening can shift an attitude during a disagreement unless under very specific circumstances. But I do believe that it can create more harmony during the disagreement." - Guy Itzchakov

"Be aware that there is a lot of supporting evidence about how active the role of the listener is in shaping the conversation and the consequences." - Guy Itzchakov

Notes/Mentions:

• Evidence on Listening Training and Workplace Performance with Guy Itzchakov

• Barbara Lee Fredrickson:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Fredrickson

• Impact Stories https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55AdBSq0BvA

Connect with Guy Itzchakov:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guy-itzchakov-05921060/
• https://hw.haifa.ac.il/en/people/human/gitzchako

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Often we don't notice it, but as leaders taking on varied roles in one's personal and professional life, we find ourselves hearing and not listening.

When we truly dial into our listening intelligence, that's when it strengthens connections and improves relationships that reinforce the human capacity for positive societal change.

Ebele Chukwujama is a Chief Executive with 22 years of progressive experience in Banking, Consulting, and Human Development. Amongst her numerous leadership positions, she was the Division Lead – Aviation Group within the Corporate Banking Division of Zenith Bank Plc. She is the Chief Executive Officer of Aloeglobal Lifestyle and Wellness Services and also Chief Executive Officer of Poise Nigeria Limited, Nigeria's Premier Personality Branding, and Communication Company.

She is a certified coach with Olusola Lanre Coaching Academy, a member of the John Maxwell Team, and the founder of The Listening School, the very first in Africa. The Listening School is a disruptive start-up on a mission to revolutionize human connection, promote real-time problem solving, increase individual productivity, and ultimately improve business processes by building a culture of listening that will help develop more productive, effective workforces and bottom line, leveraging the art of listening intelligence.

The Listening school wants to impact relationships and society, one listening ear at a time.

In this episode, Ebele shares how we can overcome just ”hearing” the other person and instead truly exercise listening, putting aside all biases, and coming in with an attitude of curiosity.

That way, we give people a sense of respect and self-worth, making them matter in society.

"It's powerful when we listen; it makes people feel valued, respected and gives a sense of dignity and a sense of self-worth." - Ebele Chukwujama

Listen IN Notes:

00:32 - The moment Ebele noticed the power of listening: In my previous role as a CEO of a consulting company we offered speaking, writing, and all of that. And it occurred to me that we didn't offer listening, and I'm like, 'Oh, wow.' Then I went deeper into research. And I realized that listening is the incontrovertible half of communication. And it just hit me."

01:10 - What is it about that moment that hit her: "I thought, I hadn't even been listening. I have just been hearing. And you know, hearing isn't listening."

02:36 - One important thing she's realized now about listening: "When you say I hear you, you're not listening, and that you can't multitask."

02:58 - The impact listening is making in her life: "I realized that a lot of my time and attention, it's paying off my relationships with people, my interactions with my children, and society.

03:56 - Message to other CEOs and leaders: "Just listen, there's something deep inside each of us that yearns for attention."

05:03 - Initiatives she helps promote in the listening school she manages: "We facilitate listening intelligence as part of a leadership strategy, we help people enhance relationships, promote real-time problem solving and productivity."

06:43 - Knowing that everything is in alignment even with people listening and understanding things in different ways

08:18 - Overcoming the biases we have for the people we engage to listen to: "When you're coming to a listening engagement, I feel the listener or the leader has to have a curious mindset. That means you're dropping all biases."

09:17 - Advice to leaders who are too busy: "80% of your time is devoted to listening as a leader. If 80% of your work day is devoted to listening, then you must make time to listen."

10:01 - Leaders learning how to practice listening: "Self-awareness is mastery."

11:17 - Checking out and checking back into the conversation: "Use powerful, open-ended questions to get back into the conversation."

12:58 - Becoming aware of the different cultures and languages: Culture is complex and influences people in many different ways. However, generally speaking, our culture influences the way that we think and express our feelings, which can create barriers to communication."

14:41 - What's in store for the Listening School: "I'm committed to impacting relationships and society."

15:26 - Not interrupting but continuing to listen even when you get bored

18:16 - An experience of how curiosity and not interrupting significantly impacted her.

22:19 - Ebele shares great tips on being self-aware and conscious of listening.

Key Takeaways:

"Just be present and pay attention." - Ebele Chukwujama

"Do not multitask while you're listening." - Ebele Chukwujama

"Listen to understand and not to respond." - Ebele Chukwujama

"Ask open-ended questions. Listening is a gift to the speaker. Together, we can impact our relationships and society while listening one ear at a time." - Ebele Chukwujama

"I have watched many times the transformation that takes place when someone finally has the opportunity to be listened to. Practice makes improvement." - Ebele Chukwujama

"Having that curious mind that no matter what it is, by going into a meeting, there's something everyone has to share with me. Because that's where you have the growth mindset because we learn and we grow daily." - Ebele Chukwujama

Connect with Ebele Chukwujama:

• Website: www.thelisteningschool.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-listening-school/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Everyone has the capacity to make a difference on the social challenges that face us every day. Helping financially is one way, yet there are so many other ways we can have social impact. Building relationships in our communities where all voices are heard and considered in a foundation building block to create a collective effort which can bring forth massive change.

And sometimes, as leaders, we try out “great” solutions to people's problems, yet are surprised they don't work. Maybe this is because we fail to listen first to the very people who are impacted and who may already have the answers to the issues at hand.

In this episode, you will find out more about how giving people voice empowers significant transformational change in our communities, as a force for good.

Ramona Houston, Ph.D., PMP, has a multifaceted career as a scholar, educator, and community engagement strategist. Sought for her expertise, Ramona is widely recognized as a thought leader in African American/Latino relations. An American historian and emerging public intellectual, Ramona specializes in 20th-century American history, civil rights, and race relations, specifically its African American and Mexican American dimensions. Through her blog, Ramona explores and critically analyzes current affairs from a historical and bicultural perspective, informing readers how contemporary issues and events relate to and or affect the African American and Latino American communities. She also devotes much of her blog to highlighting, celebrating, and promoting these two communities' history, people, culture, organizations, and events. Ramona shares her knowledge in all types of settings. She presents lectures and workshops for institutions and organizations, appears as an expert panelist and guest analyst for various programs and media outlets, and contributes print and online media columns. Through her publications and presentations, Ramona seeks to promote the importance of diverse groups working together in order to increase their capacity and effectiveness in producing positive social change. In this episode, Ramona shares how the only way to bring about a significant social impact is to listen. As she said, if we want an enormous societal impact, we need not only bring solutions we perceive to be effective, but rather talk and listen to the very people directly affected who already know best the answer to their problems. Besides, financial reward is not the only means to consider resources; creating relationships and influence can also make all the difference.

"Everybody can contribute and do good. No matter who you are, where you live, or area of expertise. All of us have the capacity, and I would also argue the responsibility to make an impact." - Ramona Houston

Listen IN Notes:

01:11 - Ramona on realizing the power of listening: It started when he was dating her now husband, how he taught her the power of resolving conflicts and not letting them fester.

06:47 - Pause and respond: "Everybody has their timing in communication, and part of listening is being able to pause."

09:15 - What it means to have a social impact: Having social responsibility while making money.

11:47 - Showcasing social impact: "One way to express this is by instituting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility strategies in your business."

15:19 - How to understand the needs of people: "You understand the needs by listening to people who have the solutions."

18:53 - Breaking down and building up systemic structures: Who is often called in to do the “job” and who needs to step in to make real change.

21:29 - Voice and Empowerment: "There are many ways to look at resources. If you learn to recognize and value the various ways that people can impact your effort, you will be able to engage so many more resources and make such a greater impact."

26:07 - Looking beyond money: How some people have something else to contribute beyond just financial influence.

28:18 - Ramona celebrates her 100th podcast episode, and she reflects on her biggest surprise she had discovered.

33:24 - Empowerment across all aspects is at the root of her podcast message

35:12 - Ramona shares an empowering message

35:58 - Sharing a funny anecdote about her work and when she met Raquel.

Key Takeaways:

"With listening…You don't always have to respond immediately; you can pause and then respond." - Ramona Houston

"Social impact is working with clients who believe in and embrace social responsibility, which is the business practice of doing good." - Ramona Houston

"I believe that you can make money and make an impact." - Ramona Houston

"It has to be not just the people who are affected by the structures to make the change, but the people who are actually holding up the structures to make the change." - Ramona Houston

"I would say that leadership, in terms of making a social impact, that no matter what area that you want to address, whether it's economic, educational, political, social change, that you need to listen to the people who are actually suffering from the issues that you're trying to address. Because many times they have the solutions that you're looking for." - Ramona Houston

Notes/Mentions:

• Ramona’s husband who is a great listener: Terreon “Tank” Gully
• John Elton: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elton_John
• Patti Labelle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patti_LaBelle
• Listen to Ramona’s interview with Raquel on “The Empowerment Zone”:: https://ramonahouston.com/podcast/listen-more/

Connect with Ramona Houston:

• Website: https://ramonahouston.com
• Website: "The Empowerment Zone."
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramonahouston
• Twitter: @ramonahouston
• FB: https://www.facebook.com/Dr.RamonaHouston
• IG: @ramonahoustonpmp

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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How can we speak in a way that will drive people to easily listen and understand our message? Learn the art of communication with us today, so you can be noticed, respected, and heard as you speak!

Susan Heaton-Wright is the founder of SuperStar Communicator, where she helps empower individuals and teams to be impactful, and communicate with confidence, clarity, credibility, and influence in all business conversations. She created the SuperStar Communicator™ methodology and has supported clients globally to be better-spoken communicators.

Susan is a multi-award-winning business owner. She is the CEO of award-winning Viva Live Music, and is a former prize winning international opera singer. She has a podcast called SuperStar Communicator, and volunteers for Love without Borders, supporting refugees in Athens.

In this episode, Susan shares the 5 areas one should consider in being an effective communicator. She explains how to be concise and make information easily digestible in conversations, even for time-pressured executive leaders so that you can get your message across with impact. We also dive into unconscious bias and the importance of being aware of how this impacts our listening. This episode if full of practical tips and ideas to help you on your professional journey

“Speak, so it’s as easy as possible for other people to listen and understand you.”

– Susan Heaton-Wright

Listen IN Notes:

00:11 – From music to business conversations: Susan has always been aware of listening, with the awareness starting from her background as a musician

01:30 – Project to be noticed: Susan shares the story behind her dream to go to university

04:50 – A message to her 17-year-old self: “Own my success, and make sure that other people know about it.”

06:17 – I Am Remarkable: How do you own your success, let people know, and inspire them through it?

10:54 – It is doable, therefore, possible: Self promotion as a fuel you can maximize to be known

12:27 – Five key areas to become a superstar communicator: Audience, content, preparation, performance, and voice

16:20 – On speaking to be heard: Keeping things concise and clear, and having a call to action

19:46 – Hard work makes people switch off: How to use your voice in a way that will make people listen to you

22:45 – A recording could help: Susan’s thoughts on translating the key areas into written communication

27:12 – Clear the blocker: “We don’t hear the same voice that everybody else does, because we are hearing our voice internally.”

28:32 – How to communicate with busy people: Be brief and interesting

32:05 – A friend or a foe: Breaking the bias on selective listening by looking for common denominators

40:36 – A helpful tool: “Be present. Be in the moment.”

41:45 – Today’s takeaway: “Speak, so it’s as easy as possible for other people to listen and understand you.”

42:21 – Check out Susan’s 10 top tips to being a SuperStar Communicator. Go to www.superstarcommunicator.com/ten-top-tips

Key Takeaways:

“There always has to be an audience in these business conversations. Otherwise, it’s a fest of people talking over each other.” – Susan Heaton-Wright

“One of the things about self promotion; a lot of people feel very icky about that, but then, look around the successful people – some of whom are really brilliant, and some of whom you might think, How did they get there?. It has been through self promotion. They know how to play the system. They know that it is worth their while making sure that they speak up, that they respond to what other people are saying, that they are doing extra things alongside their job. So then, other people within the organization begin to get to know them.” – Susan Heaton-Wright

“We should speak so it is as easy as possible for other people to listen and understand us.” – Susan Heaton-Wright

“Make sure that you understand who you’re going to be speaking to in the meeting. Do some research. You might find out that you were at the same university. You might find out that you’ve got a mutual friend or you’ve lived close to each other or you’ve worked in a similar organization in the past. Those things, if you bring them up quickly in a conversation, those will push you closer together, because we get attracted to people that are similar to us because we feel safe around them.” – Susan Heaton-Wright

“We listen best when we are in the moment, actively in the conversation. We’re not listening exclusively, but we are also watching them.” – Susan Heaton-Wright

Notes/Mentions:

• IamRemarkable: https://iamremarkable.withgoogle.com/

• 10 top tips to being a SuperStar Communicator: www.superstarcommunicator.com/ten-top-tips
• SuperStar Communicator: https://superstarcommunicator.com/
• SuperStar Communicator podcast: https://superstarcommunicator.com/podcast/

Connect with Susan Heaton-Wright:

• Website: http://www.superstarcommunicator.com
• LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/susanheatonwright
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/superstarcomms
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susanheatonwright1/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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When working with a team, how do you effectively help each other while knowing that emotions are and will always be part of communicating?

Lots of things are being done in a company with all the skills of different employees. By combining the I’s to form the we, we allow everyone to show up in the best way that makes them productive.

However, there are times when a project feels so heavy because those who are involved weren’t able to communicate properly.

Remember that communication is also a form of listening.

Join us in this episode as we learn how we can work in a remote team while making sure that everyone hears and understands what each person is sharing.

Podcaster on Managing Remote Teams, Luke Szyrmer has managed or participated in remote-only teams for almost a decade and has led teams building software, running marketing, and sales. Most recently, he led a program of approximately 30 distributed across 13 time zones and 8 different locations. Luke is the author of the #1 bestseller Launch Tomorrow and Managing Remote Teams: How to achieve together when everyone is working from how.

In this episode, Luke shares what he does to help remote teams achieve success and why facilitating is as important as listening when working with teams across time zones. He gives tips on how to engage introverts who work in the second language so that the value they bring is not lost on the team.

“If you do a lot of hierarchy, then just be aware that it can filter out important voices or data points.”

– Luke Szyrmer

Listen IN Notes:

00:20 – Short Backgrounder: How playing his guitar as he grew up led Luke to notice the power of listening

04:15 – Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Luke shares the spark that inspired him to write a book and start a podcast about managing remote teams

09:16 – Lesson Learned: Luke’s piece of advice for his younger self in relation to one’s tone as we write and/or speak

14:04 – Choose Wisely: How to work with a team, knowing that emotions will always be a part of the process

19:19 – Facilitator > Manager: Getting people to show up in the best possible way, with as much of themselves as they can in work

24:41 – Show Us How It’s Done: Luke shares how he structures a workshop-type of meeting when working with teams

30:59 – Bye ‘I’, Hello ‘We’: Focusing more on working together as you deal with the fear of not being understood

32:44 – Finished or Not: Why it is important that team members have a common definition of the word ‘done’ as they hold themselves accountable to that

37:00 – Responding to executive demands: “It then becomes a question about resourcing and not about whether or not the team is underperforming”

40:24 – How Luke listens to the energy in his team: “You ask them. Make it okay to talk about that.”

46:32 – Learn from Luke: One important thing leaders should know when it comes to remote work

54:48 – This Distorts Listening: The hierarchy within a company as something that’s meant to be a filtering mechanism

59:34 – Luke talks about his book, as well as his podcast, Managing Remote Teams

Key Takeaways:

“Music is a window into an emotional state over time.” – Luke Szyrmer

“It feels great to be listened to, definitely. It is a way of communicating respect for what someone's saying in addition to making them just feel good about it.” – Luke Szyrmer

“When you are communicating purely textually, there still is tone on what you write, but it is very context-dependent. The same words can mean very different things, depending on exactly everything else that’s said around them.” – Luke Szyrmer

“They [meetings] should be fun. If they’re not fun, then probably, you don’t need a meeting.” – Luke Szyrmer

“It doesn’t really matter so much what that definition [of ‘done’] is, from a general point of view. What does matter is that the team defines it and they hold themselves accountable to it.” – Luke Szyrmer

“Most people, when they show up for work, don't go there to do a bad job. They go there because they want to do something and enjoy doing it; they want to contribute to the whole. And my role as a facilitator is to help them do that as a group.” – Luke Szyrmer

Notes/Mentions:

• Managing Remote Teams: https://www.amazon.com/Align-Remotely-achieve-together-everyone-ebook/dp/B08RJYH1Y1/
• Managing Remote Teams podcast: https://managingremoteteams.co/

Connect with Luke Szyrmer:

• Website: https://www.launchtomorrow.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lszyrmer
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaunchTomorrow/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• Website: www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• Email: contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raquel-ark-b2067613/?originalSubdomain=de

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As we live in a world where there are lots of distractions, be that from modern technology or from people constantly telling us what to do, we often forget that as humans, we yearn to be noticed and heard too. Just as how important it is for us to listen to others, we also shouldn’t forget the value of listening to ourselves first.

Without fully understanding who we are and what we’d want to become, how can we even help others to feel like they’re safe and heard? Without listening to what our inner self has to say first, how can we even expect ourselves to hear voices of this world?

Lending your ears, your heart, and your soul as you listen to people will impact that person’s life forever. Nevertheless, remember that you also have a soul that’s asking to be cared for.

Author and speaker Jane Adshead Grant has more than 30 years’ experience as an HR practitioner and a professionally trained and accredited executive coach and facilitator within Professional and Financial Services. Jane works with senior executives to create greater self-awareness, lead more effectively, enhance communication and influencing skills and create a culture where stakeholder value is created for everyone.

Jane recently published the book the Listening Coach, a practical pocket guide to help you coach yourself through the elements of listening that are critical in life, in business and in your community. She aims to inspire people to think for oneself in order to unlock one’s potential from within. Jane provides generative attention and listening which then results in clients achieving clarity, confidence, and new ways of moving forward towards an environment of growth and fulfillment.

In this episode, Jane talks about the levels of listening as she discusses why self listening is a must before actually being able to listen to others well. Jane also reminds people how important mindset is as we go on with our listening journey.

"In order for us to listen well to another, we need to listen first to ourselves, because when we listen to ourselves and connect with who we are, we begin to develop a sense of stability, and it’s in that stability that others can seek refuge in us.” – Jane Adshead Grant

Listen IN Notes:

01:47 – On starting to notice the power of listening: Growing in an environment where listening was absent influenced her work in listening.

06:50 – Raquel shares a similar experience. Jane notes the value of looking for the good in others and acknowledging them as a human being.

09:47 – Where listening begins: Self listening involves being present with oneself and understanding more about who we are as a human being

12:58 – Connecting with people through regular listening sessions allows Jane to create a safe environment where people are heard and nurtured, which benefits both Jane and the others.

16:03 – Jane’s practice of taking the time and space to connect deeply with oneself, and why it is an act that could be difficult for some

20:37 – The five levels of listening: listening to self, pretend listening, factual listening, empathetic listening, generative listening

26:14 – Teaching how to listen in order to avoid pretend listening: Listening is an active skill. It requires giving attention, not simply paying attention.

29:50 – Play rather than Obey: Making assumptions in difficult times, especially when there’s the feeling of being stuck.

39:41 – Incisive questions are questions that ignite the mind to play.

44:28 – Mindset of Listening: Applying the growth mindset in listening. Asking, “What is the mindset in which I’m about to listen?”

48:33 – Including the fun in listening: Story of a family who had a lot of fun with the help of Jane’s The Listening Deck

51:57 – The Listening Coach: Jane shares more about her book The Listening Coach, a practical pocket guide. It will help you coach yourself through the elements of listening that are critical in life, in business and in your community. It is easy to read and digest, with practical ideas so you can convert its insights into deeper ways of listening. Peppered with conversations and real-world case studies, you will discover the transformational impact of deep and generative listening.

Key Takeaways:

"How we behave – the words we use in relationships – can really lift one up or it can pull us apart." – Jane Adshead Grant

“For me, self listening is where listening begins, because in order to listen well to another, we have to be able to listen to ourselves well.” – Jane Adshead Grant

“It takes time to quieten our mind, free from the things that we think we need to get going on and be doing. But simply be present with ourselves in that moment and connect down deep with who we are and who we’re being.” – Jane Adshead Grant

“The key thing is to notice, to notice which level of listening am I in? What level of listening will really serve the person I’m with just now to the very best?” – Jane Adshead Grant

“Listening is an active skill. It requires giving attention, not simply paying attention.” – Jane Adshead Grant

“If we apply the growth mindset [to ourselves], I believe we can all deepen and develop our listening skills to a deeper level.” – Jane Adshead Grant

“The mindset of listening is as critical as the skills of us developing our capacity to listen well with intention.” – Jane Adshead Grant

Notes/Mentions:

• The Listening Coach: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Listening-Coach-yourself-listening-communities/dp/B09MYYW9W4/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
• The Listening Deck: https://thelisteningcoach.co.uk/thelisteningdeck/
• Time to Think: https://janeadsheadgrant.com/time-to-think/
• Time to Think book: https://www.amazon.com/Time-Think-Listening-Ignite-Human/dp/0706377451
• Incisive Questions by Nancy Kline: https://www.timetothink.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/incisive-questions.pdf

Connect with Jane Adshead Grant:

• Website: https://janeadsheadgrant.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeadsheadgrant/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jane.adsheadgrant
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/janeadsheadgrant1

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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How do we develop a listening culture that helps us listen more effectively to create better relationships in our personal lives and at work? One way is through listening training using meta-cognitive strategies. Learning how to listen to our listening behaviors WHILE we are listening, so that we can grow and adjust for more impact.

Laura Janusik helps individuals and teams better align their communication through the Power of Listening. She is considered a worldwide expert in teaching and training listening based on her 20+ years of being a scholar, researcher, teacher, and trainer. She is currently helping leaders in the private industry as well as ICF certified coaches.

In this episode, Laura shares fascinating multicultural listening behaviors across the world and how this helps us lay the foundation to find common ground to understand each other, allowing for better communication. She also highlights that for change to happen and for diversity, equality, and inclusion to be truly felt, listening should be tied down to the organization's bottom line because that's when better results happen. She shares stories, research and strategies for leaders to develop a listening culture.

"The better relationships we have with people are developed through better listening." - Laura Janusik

Listen IN Notes:

07:11 - Laura's listening program: I've got 12 different chapters. And each chapter is based on research, and it targets a different area.

09:39 - Fascinating perceptions on turn-taking and silence in other cultures

12:40 - The confusion that comes with intercultural communication behaviors

15:24 - Creating communication patterns that help us understand multicultural listening behaviors

17:32 - Important elements of listening: First, that listening is a habit. Second, a study found four dominant listening habits.

19:13 - Explaining the four dominant listening habits: Connective, Reflective, Analytical, Conceptual

22:33 - The blindspot that opened up for Laura with her analytical listening habit

23:29 - Laura's experience of the power of listening that had a huge impact on her

29:48 - Practicing listening in her work: working in leadership development with both individuals and leaders, or with leadership teams to develop listening cultures.

32:01 - Mindblowing listening experience: to see that other people could see different things and feel different things and understand different things while we were all looking in and experiencing something together.

34:45 - Laura shows interest in doing research on the metacognitive listening strategies

39:49 - Leaders need to understand listening: One of the most important things to recognize is that perception is reality.

41:31 - How leaders can support a listening environment: It really needs to come from the top down. Once we are better able to tie listening to the bottom line through the research, I think that we'll see a lot more organizations wanting to become listening-centric or listening-focused.

43:39 - The challenges facing the diversity, equality and inclusivity (DEI) movement

46:18 - Goal of communication versus the goal of listening

48:56 - Message of inspiration from Laura: It's never too late to become a better listener.

Key Takeaways:

"That's what gets really confusing with intercultural communication because we use our own norms to judge whether the other person. And we then make so many incorrect assumptions of what's going on." - Laura Janusik

"When you see how you're listening, you recognize what your blind spots are, what you haven't been listening for, and what you've been allowing to just strain through your strainer. And you begin to understand why other people on your team have very different interpretations than you do. Because they prefer a different listening habit." - Laura Janusik

"The quality of listening determines the quality of relationships." - Laura Janusik

"Whenever you're going to change a culture of listening, you have to start at the top." - Laura Janusik

"It's irrelevant how good of a listener (leaders) think they are. Instead, we have to look at their direct reports and their colleagues, and how the leader is perceived by them, because that's how they're showing up as a listener." - Laura Janusik

"I like to help leaders understand right off the bat HOW OTHERS perceive them is much more important than how they perceive themselves." - Laura Janusik

Notes/Mentions:

• The Echo Listening Profile: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10904018.2019.1611433

• The Listening Space: A New Path to Personal Discovery by Tamsin Hartley - https://www.amazon.com/Listening-Space-Path-Personal-Discovery/dp/0995785406

Connect with Laura Janusik:

• Website: https://www.listeningtochange.com/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoHQJLiTvAX7vHlj4p4AHMw
• Online course: https://laura-s-school-a5d9.thinkific.com/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Leadership can get lonely. And when under pressure, it's often hard to be vulnerable in front of your team members. It can feel like the weight of decision-making and responsibility falls all on you. What if there were another way. One that could create a transformative culture where everyone is heard and valued, giving rise to enthusiasm and engagement, growing a better and stronger organization.

Authors Michael Gingerich and Tom Kaden co-lead the organization Someone To Tell It To, whose mission is to cultivate meaningful relationships through compassionate listening and training others to do the same. They have recently launched their new book, Listening 2by2: A Paradigm Shift for Leaders', showing how listening to stories is a powerful tool In this episode, Tom and Michael share how they strive every day, either at home or in the workplace, to listen with intention. They also talk about their book and the story of a CEO’s leadership journey, where they paint a culture of listening as a paradigm shift that can create unexpected magic for an organization. It creates an atmosphere where people feel safe to express themselves and their vulnerabilities, they are heard and known better, relationships are deepened, and people are more valued. And this leads to success in an organization.

"In order to listen well, you have to believe that the person is worthy of being heard. That's what we believe is at the top." - Tom Kaden

Listen In Notes:

01:06 - Experiencing a powerful impact of listening two-by-two: Having two team members listen to them as leaders about some of the burdens carry as the CEOs that not everyone else knows about. It's just so healing for us. And, we found just a lot of comfort and safety. But it's just nice for us to be the ones being heard.

07:28 - Describing the new paradigm shift of listening 2by2: If we are not listening, we are not hearing what others need. We're not hearing their ideas, we're not understanding their feelings, we're not really paying attention to them, really not valuing them, really not enabling them to be the best people they can be. That's a picture we want to paint that we want to show people that listening needs to be at the very top of everything we do.

14:02 - How does listening 2by2 create that sense of safety: It helps to give more courage to whatever needs to be said, whatever needs to be shared

17:28 - How they vet the listening pairs in their organization so that they get along well and see things in common and divergent ways.

19:47 - How having different perspectives complement more and become very helpful

22:21 - Listening with intention can change culture: If you ask those you lead how they'd like to be treated, and then intentionally listen to their answers, and respectfully consider them, you will have the beginning of a transformed culture that helps people be excited and enthusiastic about their work.

25:33 - They describe the acronym LISTEN from the book: the value that we've assigned to the last letter N is Notice. The CEO in the book, began to notice his employees. And that made a huge difference. Then that also translated to home, where he noticed things about his children, about his wife. And their relationships improved. And he was happier.

27:44 - Noticing others creates an opportunity to notice oneself and the different layers to oneself that needs work

28:31 - Listening as a facilitator of change: It's exciting to see team members who are excited about what they do, who constantly strive to do better, who constantly want to be their best, and have new and creative ideas all the time because it's safe.

30:15 - The paradigm shift that happens when you become the story seeker in listening

33:31 - The huge impact leaders bring when they know how to care: To know that others know who we are makes a huge difference.

34:36 - Simplifying self-care for leaders: At the end of the day, it's all about people. It's all about relationships.

35:56 - How Tom and Michael practice self-care as leaders in their organization

38:40 - Advice to leaders who want to be better at listening in their organization: The more observant we become and the more sensitive to the environment around us, the more clarity and insight we'll find.

41:11 - Inspiring words from Michael and Tom: The best leaders lead from a place of humility.

Key Takeaways:

"To listen two-by-two, with 2 listeners, we have the safety of each other. In that safety, it enables us to be more open and vulnerable." - Michael Gingerich

"We're trying to create this culture in our workplace that is very open, that is communicative, that is empathetic, that is compassionate. That is kind. Are we perfect at it? No, there's always work to be done." - Michael Gingerich

"Leadership is about developing others and understanding their strengths and their weaknesses. And finding the combination of team members who complement each other. The best way to do that is to listen. "- Michael Gingerich

"The atmosphere can be so much better, so much more fulfilling if we indeed do know one another. And they know us.” - Michael Gingerich

"If you're not making empathy and compassion and listening top of mind as a leader in your organization, we can guarantee that you're not going to be in a leadership position for very long." - Michael Gingerich

"Listening is where it starts. And listening is where it needs to continue. And listening is where it ends." - Tom Kaden

"Sharing the weight of leadership is so life-giving. It keeps us from burning out. It keeps us from experiencing tremendous amounts of stress." - Tom Kaden

"Everyone needs to tell their story. And everyone's story matters.” Tom Kaden

“It's important to look at each person in front of us as someone of value, and to respect them. Because if we don't believe that, if we don't believe that they have value and that they have a voice that needs to be expressed, we really won't listen to them." - Tom Kaden

Notes/Mentions:

• Listening 2by2: A Paradigm Shift for Leaders (That's When the Magic Happens!) by Tom Kaden and Michael Gingerich: https://www.amazon.com/Listening-2by2-Paradigm-Leaders-Happens-ebook/dp/B09LYSW6LX

• One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard: https://www.kenblanchard.com/Store/The-New-One-Minute-Manager

Connect with Michael Gingerich and Tom Kaden:

• SomeoneToTellItTo: https://someonetotellitto.org/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Have you ever asked your child, your student, your employee, your organization, your customer….

How do you experience our leadership?

How do you experience this policy?

How do you experience me as a parent?

And what would you like to experience?

In this episode, Shariff shares examples and stories as to how to shift dynamics in communication in teacher-student, parent-child, leader-employee or any type of relationship through the exchange of feedback around what has been experienced. Listening in this way can lead to a deeper understanding of the situation, more impactful decisions and an overall shift in mindset allowing for all voices to be heard.

He also talks about how to ask powerful questions that not only connect the dots and dig deep, but also help move us into action, paving the way for creative problem-solving for a better, more just and fulfilling future.

Sharif El-Mekki is the Founder and CEO of the Center for Black Educator Development. The Center exists to ensure equity in the recruiting, training, hiring, and retention of quality educators that reflect the cultural backgrounds and share common socio-political interests of the students they serve.

The Center is developing a nationally relevant model to measurably increase teacher diversity and support Black educators through four pillars: Professional Learning, Pipeline, Policies, and Pedagogy. So far, the Center has developed ongoing and direct professional learning, mentoring, and coaching opportunities for Black teachers and other educators serving students of color.

Whether you are a teacher, a parent or a leader, this episode is full of practical examples that can support all of us in shaping an inclusive and just world where all voices are listened to and acted upon.

"If we listen to hear, listen to understand, and listen to learn, that's a different way to lead. And ultimately, that is a mindset that can help us march towards a path that's far more just." - Sharif El-Mekki

Listen IN Notes:

02:32 - What we should pay attention to Thinking time, reflection time.

03:11 - The kinds of questions we need to ask children to allow them to build their own paradigms

08:52 - Helping human beings develop empathy: 'Managing themselves' is also understanding others, as well.

10:20 - A story of impacting the community, organization, and school by listening to student voices.

13:24 - Crucial to establish the organization, continue to grow, and improve: working in the community with each other, sharing thoughts, sharing ideas, and giving collective feedback.

14:11 - Being seen, heard, and listened to as your authentic self: They interviewed 100 black teachers, and collaborated around a report based on the feedback. The report, “Who We Are”, helped with retention efforts of black educators in the United States. They're more likely to stay if they have a culture that's affirming, with leadership that is committed to racial justice.

23:35 - Reflecting back: As we develop educators, cultural competence is important but even more important is cultural proficiency.

28:48 - Communicating by listening through feedback

37:04 - A moment of significant change: Being invited into the profession [teaching] and really seeing the connection between educational justice, racial justice, and social justice.

41:57 - Listening to justice: If we're really seeking justice, then we are going to make sure that we're listening, we're hearing, we're seeing folks who are aggrieved by our leadership, from our policies, from our procedures, from the culture that's been established.

43:33 - Mustering and practicing the courage to listen: It can start small, asking people for feedback. A lot of things can actually be practiced with your inner circle, spaces you feel safe and brave.

55:58 - Having a just system for trust and listening to thrive and brave spaces created: It's around setting goals, being transparent, and acknowledging their experience.

56:16 - What a 'lift and climb concept' looks like

01:02:51 - Looking at human beings, regardless if they're immigrants or refugees as owners of their destiny, not as change agents.

Key Takeaways:

"I sometimes think out of frustration; we just want to solve the problem. We want to address whatever the child was experiencing and how it manifested, like an inappropriate response. And that's very likely true at that moment. But we also have to be curious about what are the other things that occurred." - Sharif El-Mekki

"When we're talking about building communities, and classrooms, and schools, and neighborhoods and recreation centers – it's about community. How do we work together? How do we spend time together? How do we interact with each other? All of those can inform our values…and can help us improve ourselves as well as our general interactions with others." - Sharif El-Mekki

"What they (human beings) want from their leadership is a commitment to improving transparency, support, and receptivity to feedback." - Sharif El-Mekki

"One of the tenets of our work is, we're not just pushing into schools, and teaching a course, teaching one on one look but we're also engaging high school youth to be part of the solution." - Sharif El-Mekki

"My mother is my first teacher, and I love to quote about what she said, “Something precedes peace. And it's justice. If you want peace, fight for justice, because justice will surely give birth to peace.”" - Sharif El-Mekki

"Listening, with actual hearing, can support justice, because the people, the aggrieved, can share how they're experiencing things." - Sharif El-Mekki

Notes/Mentions:

• Zora Neale Hurston: https://www.zoranealehurston.com/about/
• Mary Church Terrell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Church_Terrell
• Frederick Douglass: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Douglass

Connect with Sharif El-Mekki:

• Website: https://phillys7thward.org/#
• Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/8-black-hands/id1471646189

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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We live in a world of ever-changing team dynamics. How do we use listening and communication as a tool to help individuals and teams adapt well to change, manage conflicts and challenges, learn and grow? How do team structures influence finding solutions to big challenges while creating meaningful people experiences? And what are the various ways we foster listening to help us in decision-making?

Heidi Helfand is the author of the book Dynamic Reteaming. She coaches software development teams using practical, people-focused techniques, with the goal of building resilient organizations as they double and triple in size.

Heidi is currently VP of Engineering at Kin Insurance, which offers affordable coverage to homeowners in catastrophe-prone regions. Her 20+ year career in SAAS launched Procore Technologies and AppFolio to IPO and Expertcity to acquisition by Citrix. She was on the original development team that built GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar. Heidi is based in Southern California.

In this episode, Heidi shares how she nerds out with listening because it is hard and a life-long practice. She highlights that to have effective communication, it pays to give someone the space for them to articulate what they want to convey. Often, solutions can be found which help craft decisions, whether their or yours.

She also talks about her book 'Dynamic Reteaming' which focuses on building effective teams amidst continuous team change.

"People are going to come; people are going to go; your teams are going to change. Focus there. Don't go for the quest for stability, because it's unrealistic." - Heidi Helfand

Listen IN Notes:

03:22 - On discovering the power of listening: You rediscover the power of listening all the time, if you take the time to stop talking and try to focus on another person or what's going on around you, you get clues that might surprise you.

03:46 - A moment she was surprised by the clues when she stopped talking: When you're talking to another person, and you leave space, they most likely say things or offer solutions to their challenges that you wouldn't have thought of.

05:44 - Leveling the playing field and getting all voices heard: suggesting self-management strategies

08:26 - Facilitation techniques for small and bigger groups so that all voices are heard and everyone's participation is encouraged.

13:02 - What makes listening important: be generous with your attention, it might really be life-changing for the other person because they feel like its a gift, especially when they have experienced otherwise.

15:03 - What it feels like for Heidi to experience that gift of listening

16:50 - Talking about her book on dealing with team change: Dynamic Reteaming by Heidi Helfand

21:07 - What she thinks about team change: When you find that team chemistry, which I think is almost magical, in some cases, you want to keep it . But just like other things, nothing stays the same; enjoy it while you have it.

22:24 Sharing how writing her book was a process of discovery and how she used grounded theory.

26:32 - Building a communication strategy around a structure: You have a picture of the current state and the future state. And then you write an FAQ document as one structure. Then you talk to different groups of people and iterate this document that tries to bring everybody to the same point of understanding about this change that we're going to have.

38:42 - Heidi's advice to a new manager: You might not feel like you're always prepared from the start when you're doing something new. But you don't have to be perfect. You're going to learn along the way.

41:51 - Inspiring words to hear from Heidi: It's a busy world right now. It can feel quite chaotic and overwhelming, with everything we're dealing with, with COVID, with working differently. Take care of yourself, prioritize your health and your family's health, and just do the best you can. There are a lot of new challenges that we're facing, globally. Give people a little grace and space and allow for messiness. We're all in this together.

Key Takeaways:

"I think you can reteam for learning and fulfillment to get into a better place. We want people to feel like they're excited to come to work each day, they're working and they're learning, and they're challenged. And it's an enjoyable experience.” - Heidi Helfand

“You might not get it right the first time when they join a team. But in talking with people, listening to what they want to do, where they want to go. Really cultivate a kind of career conversation and you can figure out how you can best support them." - Heidi Helfand

"I try to listen as the default. Sometimes it's hard if you're particularly excited about a topic. You might want to get your words in. But I find that if you leave the space, it just allows other things to happen, and that's probably a good thing because it's more collaborative." - Heidi Helfand

"You want to engage people in problem-solving, so they come up with their solutions. They figure out how they want to roll them out, and then they reflect on them and try to apply this as learning going forward." - Heidi Helfand

"I do always think you need a persistent visual of all of your people in teams. This is not an org chart. I'm talking about the software development companies that work in cross-functional teams; how you're organized is important. And I just like doing that in an open, accessible way, like a Google sheet where anybody can make changes to it. Because as the teams change and own their change, people are going to move around. And so everybody keeps this shared thing updated." - Heidi Helfand

"It's always this continual need to…refocus out and pay attention to other people. (When you focus and listen), it helps make decisions that help you figure out what to do." - Heidi Helfand

Notes/Mentions:

• Dynamic Reteaming by Heidi Helfand: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1492061298/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_PFYJ9Z3G4YAG9H54MPS3
• Brene Brown: https://brenebrown.com/
• Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead : https://www.amazon.com/Daring-Greatly-Courage-Vulnerable-Transforms/dp/1592408419
• The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business by Patrick Leoncioni: https://www.amazon.com/Advantage-Organizational-Everything-Business-Lencioni-ebook/dp/B006ORWT3Y
• The Leader Lab: Core skills to become a better manager, faster: https://www.amazon.de/Leader-Lab-Tania-Luna/dp/1119793319

Connect with Heidi Helfand:

• Website: https://www.heidihelfand.com/
• Email: heidihelfand@gmail.com

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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What would happen if we would stop talking past each other and start becoming listeners just like astronauts who went to the moon?

Discover how to listen like the Astronauts who went to the moon. Not only was it a life or death critical skill, listening also transformed how they understood the the world, humanity and their own existence. We can all learn from the simple techniques they used to achieve what no other person had before.

An award-winning investigative reporter, Author Basil Hero speaks about what he discovered about the power of listening in his book “The Mission Of A Lifetime: Lessons From The Men Who Went To The Moon”. He shares stories and lessons from the twelve remaining Apollo astronauts who went to the moon, asking questions that no one had asked them before. In the in-depth interviews, they spoke about their true source of courage, leadership, and the quiet patriotism that it took to risk their lives going to the moon. They urge us to reframe our view of Earth to theirs where having “no identifiable nations, borders, or races; just Earthlings working together as a collective civilization”.

Basil talks about how these astronauts had the powerful ability of observation and listening. In this episode, you will learn about these skills, alongside the simple techniques they used to manage stress and communicate clearly, which can be valuable to us in our everyday professional lives. He also shares their narratives and discusses how their experiences influenced him and others to become better individuals for this planet and its people.

‘[on the Apollo 13 accident] There was no manual to be issued to the rest of the world on how to solve a problem and not panic. It's a real lesson in how to listen… or die.” – Basil Hero

Listen IN Notes:

00:51 – The lessons the 12 astronauts that landed on the moon learned from their experience: both philosophically and spiritually. How did their experience influence their perception of listening, silence, and life in general?

11:30 – Believing in something greater than oneself: Being a citizen versus a consumer, which one are you?

21:17 – What made the 12 people who went to the moon different?

24:00 – Simulating for contingency: Narratives on the special kind of communication mission control and the astronauts have, as well as the lessons we can take from these.

27:15 – Basil’s advice to humanity: If we were to listen to the voice of humanity right now, what would it be saying to us?

32:35 – Raquel on lessons from the men who went to the moon: how humankind can pull through even in a crisis moment.

33:22 – Connect with Basil and know more about his book,’ The Mission Of A Lifetime: Lessons From The Men Who Went To The Moon'.

Key Takeaways:

“You don't go to heaven when you die, you go to heaven when you are born." – Jim Lovell to Basil

“Listen to the birds singing. Listen to the wind. There is this notion of listening. Listen to nature.”– Basil Hero

“Sometimes, the less you say and the more you listen, when you speak, it may have more of an impact on people.” – Basil Hero

“What listening requires is having a completely open mind – absorbing the information that is being thrown at you then you respond accordingly.” – Basil Hero

People/Resources Mentioned:

• Bill Moyers: https://billmoyers.com
• The Mission Of A Lifetime: Lessons From The Men Who Went To The Moon: https://www.amazon.com/Mission-Lifetime-Lessons-Went-Moon/dp/1538748517
• Apollo 13: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_13
• Apollo 13 [ movie] - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112384/
• Jim Lovell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Lovell

Connect with Basil Hero:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/basilhero
• Website: https://www.basilhero.com

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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How can we teach and nourish children so that small changes have a significant impact on their transformation as well as helping our planet? And what do growing plants and listening have in common for this transformation to be possible?

Stephen Ritz is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning educator, author of best-selling book, The Power Of A Plant and Founder of Green Bronx Machine. Known as America's favorite teacher and 2015 Top Ten Finalist for the Global Teacher Prize, Stephen is responsible for creating the first edible classroom in the world. He and his students have grown more than 130,000 pounds of vegetables in the South Bronx, were celebrated at the Obama White House three times, have been featured on the cover of TIME for KIDS, and are the subject of a new, full-feature documentary, Generation Growth. Stephen is now appearing in the new PBS educational series Let's Learn with Mister Ritz, was named the 2020 Change-Maker Award by NYC Food Policy Center for his response to COVID, named a 2021 Food Hero by TMZ Live, and was awarded the 2021 Artemis CEA Disruptor Award for his work, advocacy, and impact in public schools across NYC and America.

In this episode, Stephen shares how farming and listening to the smallest of things are crucial in healing ourselves and our planet. Just like the plants, both need to be cultivated between planting the seed and growing them. As with our children -- to realize their goals and aspirations, there has to be nurturing in between.

"The power of a soft, gentle voice really enables people to tune in. I always say, in this world of social media and so much negativity, we need to learn to separate the noise from the signal and really clue into what the universe is telling us. It's a remarkable way of doing business and going forward and finding your little place and your little piece on the planet." - Stephen Ritz

Listen IN Notes:

00:42 - Stephen being a big believer in meeting people where they're at: by looking and by listening.

02:26 - How the small things in life can bring peace and tranquility; listening to children being a critical piece -- they're making noise because they want to be heard.

04:10 - All it takes is one good, succinct message.

08:05 - Compassion as the key to tuning in to the signal of the kids.

09:56 - There are always three sides to a story: one side, the other side, and the truth.

11:07 - Why should the basic rules of life still apply despite changing technology?

12:30 - How do gardening and listening enable you to pause for a cause?

14:57 - What the beauty of farming teaches us how to nourish children.

16:35 - That one question that people are asking Stephen.

18:21 - Appreciation he receives from children that is worth life itself.

19:25 - Stephen shares what he wants people to hear.

21:44 - One thing Stephen wants us to think about and make a change in the way we treat children.

22:23 - Stephen talks about the Green Bronx Machine and its purpose: We grow vegetables, our vegetables grow students, our students grow the schools, and our schools grow happy, healthy, resilient communities.

Key Takeaways:

"For me, compassion is the new curriculum. And compassion starts with hearing voices. I believe every child has a voice, and every child has a story. And our stories are our ladders to success. And if we listen, we learn, and if we learn, we share." - Stephen Ritz

"In terms of tuning into the heart, into the emotion, including content, you want that content coming in a soft, gentle manner." - Stephen Ritz

"Learning to be kinder, learning to be gentler, learning to slow down so that the wheels hit the ground enables you to go much faster." - Stephen Ritz

Notes/Mentions:

• Watch 'Let's Learn with Mr. Ritz': https://greenbronxmachine.org/letslearn/
• Green Bronx Machine: https://greenbronxmachine.org/letslearn/

Connect with Stephen Ritz:

• Website1: https://stephenritz.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/StephenRitzOfficial
• https://twitter.com/StephenRitz
• Website 2:https://greenbronxmachine.org
• https://www.facebook.com/green.BX.machine/
• https://twitter.com/greenBXmachine
• https://www.youtube.com/greenbronxmachine
• https://www.instagram.com/greenbronxmachine/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Enjoy this inspiring conversation with author Laura Hargraves, an ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist with an extensive background in the rehabilitation and healthcare field. Recently, her career has focused on public school settings, allowing her to observe how the need for listening skills has become even more critical. And more importantly, what we can do about it.

For kids, the way we deliver the message impacts how they listen and absorb what we say. In this episode, Laura shares examples of how cohesiveness of voice, facial expression, and body language are important factors to consider, if we want children to understand our message. By paying more attention to communicating with our whole selves, we can bring about change that leads to more understanding, clarity and connection with children. Teachers are also surprised about how they have more space and time to do what they love...teach. Laura share’s ideas for listening curriculum that can not only create magic, but give us more time to enjoy the magic.

"Be attentive to the whole message and the whole person that you're communicating with. Because that makes all the difference. And that's where the magic happens."

- Laura Hargraves

Listen IN Notes:

00:49 - When did she start to acknowledge the power of listening: it was so much easier to get adults to attend to what was being said, to really listen to the message and hear it and take it in, versus when working with children.

03:19 - How do children listen differently: they're paying attention not only to what you're doing with your face, but what you're doing with your body, and whether or not you're actually attentive to them as the child.

06:47 - Avoid sending children mixed messages and learn how to develop a signal to support listening.

13:08 - Real listening vs. pretend listening

13:58 - Defining general comprehension and listening comprehension in different ways than what teachers were used to doing.

16:51 - The heart of the matter in listening: Instead of asking them to repeat back directions specifically, get them to repeat back what they're actually going to do as how it relates to the direction or the situation. This will give you better understanding of how much they listened and what their comprehension is.

18:03 - How a little girl’s drawing helped her express her needs.

22:41 - Lessons learned from listening to children that parents can also use: Giving the child the ability to express themselves.

30:29 - A dream Laura wants to come true: Just like we have curriculums for reading, writing, and integrating kids into scholastic works, we need daily listening curriculum for students, to help them focus on what listening really is. And it can be fun.

33:53 - Why pay attention to signals that are happening even with adults

36:34 - The effect when listening fails between adults and kids

38:48 - How a safe environment provides an opportunity for kids to ask questions and listen more: If we're not encouraging people to ask questions, for clarity, for what we've heard, and what we've listened to, we're never going to get a clear answer.

41:24 - What you can see in families that encourage question asking

42:48 - Laura shares a better way to respond instead of when a teacher says, 'You weren't listening, so I'm not going to restate it': It is important to encourage an exchange, which improves their listening skills.

44:18 - What helps children listen: Listen to them. Because when you're listening to a child, you actually have to go back to that child and find out,' Is this what you really meant?'

45:05 - Talking about what her book titled 'That is Not What I Said,'

48:06 - Becoming more culturally attuned with language and words used as it varies in meaning from country to country.

49:19 - When does the magic happen?

Key Takeaways:

"If kids are just giving you words, but they don't understand the meaning of those words, or they haven't listened to the meaning of the whole message, they're not going to get it right." - Laura Hargraves

"Parents are really good at telling kids what to do, telling kids how to be, telling kids information but not necessarily checking in with the child to make sure that they've registered that information." - Laura Hargraves

"If we step back, and just literally take moments to listen to our kids and listen to ourselves, the chaos actually reduces, and our kids' understanding and our connection with them improve so dramatically." - Laura Hargraves

"We have to show them how to really communicate when they're not listening or when they don't understand things. So we can give them the information, so they become better listeners. So that as adults, they're not adding extra filters to things, which then leads to misinformation and misunderstandings." - Laura Hargraves

Notes/Mentions:

• That is Not What I Said: Listening is Magic by Laura Hargraves: https://www.amazon.com/That-Not-What-Said-Listening/dp/1098366174

Connect with Laura Hargraves:

• laurashargraves.com

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Imagine what could be possible if we learned to listen first? Better flow, understanding and win-win solutions that transcend cultures, beliefs, and languages. Leaders can learn how to provide a safe space and trust for a challenging conversation, which allows for a more dynamic interaction among team members, empowering them to seek solutions themselves and become proactive rather than reactive.

Colin Smith, also known as The Listener, shares stories and gives practical tips as to how to listen with deep impact. He has an innate ability to listen to people deeply and hold space which enables people to open up and share their concerns, feelings, ideas, etc. His varied background, view of the world, and inquisitive and curious mind enable him to share unusual, thought-provoking, yet grounded observations and alternative approaches to business, people, systems, and change.

In this episode, Colin shows the many facets of how people are literally “dying” to be heard, and he shares how we can manifest a listen first attitude in many ways and with every opportunity we have. This approach is how we get people to also listen to us.

Listen first, listen always, all ways. All the different ways you can listen, always do that. Because we're all dying to be heard."

- Colin Smith

Listen IN Notes:

00:40 - The moment he noticed the power of listening: The idea of disruptive dialogue is you sit with someone for two or three hours, you have a deeper, meaningful conversation, you ask lots of good questions. And it really gets them thinking because it's an unusual conversation.

05:36 - What made people notice he had a gift for listening: It's not about DOING listening. It’s about BEING a listener. It's about how you arrive, how you show up, your presence, your intention underneath all of that.

09:52 - Sharing his deep thoughts about disruptive dialogue and how it shifts the environment into something that opens doors for interactions and flow of ideas.

14:21 - What happens when a leader gets genuinely interested in what others have to say in a meeting?

17:15 - How do you make people listen to you?

20:25 - What does it take to have that clarity of communication?

24:43 - One beautiful moment about listening that he didn't really expect

27:05 - Transforming the word 'conflict' in a different perspective that makes sense

28:48 - Creating trust and safety around difficult conversations

34:45 - What Colin wants leaders to learn about listening.

38:51 - Differentiating hearing from listening

40:51 - What he wants listeners to take away from listening versus hearing: Don't try and fix the problems. Let them come up with something that they think.

42:23 - The best thing about being the listener: “When I listen first, at the end of it, they can actually go away from a conversation thanking me for such a great time and telling other people what a great time they had. Actually, I say, all I did was listen. And that's because it is so unusual. It's seen as special.”

44:15 - What Colin discovers about himself in this conversation with Raquel: I appreciate your listening because you've enabled me to think better and come up with some new ways of expressing what I express.

46:33 - Is there a rule to follow when you listen first?

Key Takeaways:

"If we all learn that idea of listening first, then we start listening without judgment, with curiosity, with interest, with equality, with ease. Then everything flows much better." - Colin Smith

"When you're listening, the most important thing is to BE a listener. And that's really different. It's about how you arrive, how you show up, your presence, your intention." - Colin Smith

"When we take the time to be interested and genuinely interested in the other, we might get a surprise." - Colin Smith

"Just because I have an answer doesn't mean it's the right answer. Let me ask you what you think first." - Colin Smith

"Sometimes I just need to be able to vocalize what I'm saying." - Colin Smith

"Do we care about someone to enable us to listen? Or could we listen fully, and as a result, we'd end up caring about them." - Colin Smith

"How much could be listened to from someone? And what we really get from the conversation is often a very different message." - Colin Smith

"There are no rules. We know if we instinctively are present with someone, we will know what to do. We'll know what to say. We'll know when to add in our bit. Because it feels right. And it will feel congruent to the person who's speaking." - Colin Smith

Notes/Mentions:

• 10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation by Celeste Headlee: https://www.ted.com/talks/celeste_headlee_10_ways_to_have_a_better_conversation
• In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies by Thomas J. Peters: https://www.amazon.in/Search-Excellence-Americas-Companies-Essentials/dp/0060548789
• Brenee Brown: https://brenebrown.com/
• Jane Adshead-Grant: https://listeningalchemy.com/2021/02/15/the-transformativepower-of-generativelistening-with-jane-adshead-grant/

Connect with Colin Smith:

• dexteritysolutions.co.uk
• LinkedIn

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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What does it mean to listen with your heart, not just your head? And how does this help us work at a deeper level with diversity, equity and inclusivity so that we can impact real change?

Dr. Teri Varner is an academic visionary with garnered experience in teaching, mentorship, and curriculum development to meet specific educational goals. A decorated educator with demonstrated expertise in communication theory, nonverbal communication, public speaking, and active listening.

She is an Associate Professor of Communication at St. Edward’s University (Austin, TX). She holds a Ph.D. in Communication with an emphasis in Performance Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Her ethnographic qualitative research interests range from women of color in American higher education to hair/body politics to increase the amount of classroom instruction devoted to teaching students how to actively listen in the 21st century. Dr. Varner is an active member of the National Communication Association (NCA) the International Listening Association (ILA) and Southern States Communication Association (SSCA). Her current research examines metacognitive listening strategies and takes a qualitative look at strategies that United States American students report using before, during, and after a listening event.

In this episode, Teri shares how when we are given an opportunity to use our voice, we can use it in its full capacity, to help each other, to speak up for what is right and just. She highlights how we need to give listening the time and space necessary to dig deep into where the other person is coming from for deeper understanding.

"What's important to me is that I would rather risk you thinking...there's something wrong with me...because I've asked you so many times. I am more concerned about getting it right than being embarrassed that I'm getting it wrong." - Teri Varner

Listen IN Notes:

01:10 - Teri remembers when she experienced the power of listening in a circle of women from all across the world. The key component was this idea of listening not just with your head, but really listening with your heart.

04:53 - As a newbie experiencing the listening workshop for the first time, with other women talking about what it's like to be from a marginalized community where people are often dismissive. She was amazed about our capacity as human beings to be sympathetic and empathetic.

06:37 - What is this 99/1 rule as coined by Dr. Carol McCall?

08:34 - On being a university chair for three years at St. Edward's University, the first African American department chair.

10:34 - Lessons she learned from being a university chair: expect the unexpected.

16:49 - Looking at listening in relation to action: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

22:16 - Why it takes so long for diversity, equity, and inclusion to take its roots.

25:39 - How to allow space and time for listening: When it comes to listening, being authentic -- making sure that there's time for you to listen.

30:38 - Teri’s mantra to make sure she's giving time and space for listening: You have my undivided attention.

32:13 - How to know when you have a full understanding after listening?

37:22 - Helping others understand: “I am asking you to repeat something because I want to understand fully. That's the strength. That's courage.“

44:39 - Finding one's voice through listening: The power of lecturing with a microphone. Becoming more conscious, cognizant of how her voice is resonating throughout the room and with her students. It has made her think about what she will say next.

48:39 - How taking time to listen to our voice helps.

52:39 - Talking about the speech which was authentic, sincere, and with power that she gave when she received an educator award: “When I wrote the speech, I wrote it thinking that if I never had another opportunity to address this group of people, this is what I would want to say.”

55:02 - Teri's final words: Speaking truth to empower.

Key Takeaways:

"What is this 99/1 rule? ...99% of what they are talking about that might be causing you what your perceived as harm, or is making you angry is 99% about them. And only 1% is you. And you just happened to show up." - Teri Varner

"Sometimes it may not be enough these days just to listen when we say that we have a background in listening; it might also be that there are times when as a result of listening, we really need to be proactive." - Teri Varner

"To be both reaffirming of diversity, equity and inclusion, we want to include everyone, but still, celebrate our uniqueness and the challenges in between." - Teri Varner

"Empowered listening is about knowing that you are devoting your energies to simply showing up for that person and not focusing on anything else other than what that person is sharing with you." - Teri Varner

"If you don't understand what somebody has said, don't pretend, don't make it up. Just ask for help." - Teri Varner

"When I decide that I'm going to take ownership and have control over the quality of the sound of my voice, then giving speeches or making presentations might not seem as daunting as it would have otherwise." - Teri Varner

"If you have a voice, make sure that you use it to its full potential." - Teri Varner

People/Resources Mentioned:

• Dr. Carol McCall: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drcarolmccall/

Connect with Teri Varner:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teri-l-varner-ph-d-64463226

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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It doesn’t matter what background you have, or what type of job you do or the experiences you have, imagine what could be possible when you learn how to listen to your creativity?

Robbie Bach, who is best known for founding and leading the team that created the Xbox did just this. And this process surprised him with his first novel, a thriller The Wilkes Insurrection, published in 2021.

Today he is an entertaining storyteller and catalyzing voice who writes books and speaks to audiences on leadership, creativity, strategy, and civic issues. During his twenty-two years at Microsoft, Robbie worked in various marketing and business management roles—including supporting the successful launch and expansion of Microsoft Office and leading the creation and development of the Xbox business. Then as Microsoft’s President of the Entertainment and Devices Division, he was responsible for the company’s worldwide gaming, music, video, phone, and retail sales businesses until he retired in 2010.

He currently chairs the board of the Bipartisan Policy Center. He also serves on the national board of governors for Boys and Girls Clubs of America and Magic Leap, an augmented reality company. He previously served as a board member of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Sonos Inc., Brooks Running Company, the Space Needle Inc., and Year Up Puget Sound. He is the co-owner of Manini’s, Inc., a gluten-free pasta and baking company.

In 2015, he published his first book, Xbox Revisited: A Game Plan for Corporate and Civic Renewal.

In this episode, Robbie shares stories about how he learned to listen to his creativity in order to write his first fiction. And you might be surprised at his process. Learn how to shift working with your strategic brain to listening to your creative brain and how may take an unexpected path as a story unfolds. He also reflects on what he has discovered this year through writing the book and how this is connected to leading a team, self-awareness and collaboration. Even though the book is a fiction, he hopes that when readers put the book down, they walk away and have learned something. He would like to hear from you about this!

"You have to be able to listen to yourself and to listen to what's going on inside your head, which is a weird process. It's just not natural, honestly. But very powerful." - Robbie Bach

Listen IN Notes:

01:02 - The first moment that he started to notice the power of listening: We're literally sitting on two little chairs, about a meter apart. And each person is supposed to talk about something deeply emotional and meaningful to them. And the other person is supposed to listen and give them feedback cues without saying anything for a full minute.

02:55 - What has been most challenging for most leaders: Figuring out how to listen completely and not just pretend you're listening, but actually hear what the person is saying, understand the process and continue to process it before you respond.

04:02 - He shares his experience learning to listen his creative side: It was a challenge for me to listen to a different part of myself, and a different part of my brain -- a part of my brain that was not about strategy and marketing and communications, messaging and those types of things, but was instead about this creative story, which turns out to be an action thriller.

06:27 - What was the shift to listening to his creative side: You actually have to listen to the emotive part of your brain.

09:37 - The way he developed the characters in the book: Creativity is not a solo act. I had a couple of different forms of interaction to help me.

12:17 - Discovering how listening to ourselves, even if it seems egocentric is a very powerful lesson to learn: “I have to listen to myself.'

15:10 - How his second book turned into a thriller without intending to: I decided to write out of my fears.

20:00 - The one thing that surprises him the most writing the book

21:08 - What is an 'author's art'

22:21 - Commonalities in writing a book and leading teams and groups in a corporate setting

24:31 - One piece of advice he shares: This concept of self-awareness. And really, as best you can, try to understand who you are as a person.

26:25 - The Avengers Theory of Leadership: superpower is the thing that makes you uniquely talented. In addition to knowing your Avengers superpower, you have to know your kryptonite. You have to know the things that you are uniquely bad at.

28:35 - What is Robbie's superpower?

30:22 - Talking about the confession he wrote on LinkedIn

33:22 - The type of change he is mining: Productive constructive engagement and how to do it in a way where people listen, hear what others have to say, and then collaborate.

35:06 - What is the goal of his fiction book, The Wilkes Insurrection?

37:54 - A tip on how to listen more.

41:23 - The Wilkes Insurrection launch date

42:31 - Robbie’s final message: It's okay to think about myself as an individual and do things that are good for me. But at the end of the day, I have to think about what's good for the community, as well.

Key Takeaways:

"I haven't talked to a single author who uses the same process for writing their books. You have to have your way." - Robbie Bach

"I think it would be incredibly more valuable as a worker, as a friend, as a leader, if you actually understood yourself better." - Robbie Bach

"You can't create a self-awareness of who you want to be, you have to create a self-awareness of who you are." - Robbie Bach

"It's really incumbent as leaders and as people to understand what our superpowers are and to be honest with ourselves, about what we are truly great at." - Robbie Bach

Notes/Mentions:

• Book: The Wilkes Insurrection by Robbie Bach:https://wilkesinsurrection.com/

Connect with Robbie Bach:

• Website: https://www.robbiebach.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robbiebach61
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbiebach
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/robbie_bach

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Let’s span the globe with listening activities that focus on creating and strengthening connections.

Listen to connect.

Mentioned Resource: 2021 IDL THEME: LISTEN TO CONNECT

IDL 2021 will be held on September 16, 2021.

Connect with Raquel:

• Website: https://listeningalchemy.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raquel-ark-b2067613/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Listening-Alchemy-200172590449210/?ref=page_internal
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listening_alchemy

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    Are you ready to grow your listening super­powers? Then you are at the right place.

The world needs our listening
superpower now more than ever,
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         Coaching Strengthen your communication, interpersonal and leadership capacities supporting your professional & personal growth.

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 Podcast Enjoy listening to the *Listen In with Raquel Ark* podcast focused on helping leaders to listen beyond what they typically consider.

**"You *can* work smarter & feel better by listening!"**

RAQUEL ARK

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contact me TEDx NU­REM­BERG RAQUEL ARK https://youtu.be/7wgFrKRjYiA "My work is devoted to sharing ideas, tools and resources that will help you master the art of listening"

RAQUEL ARK communication expert, coach, facilitator, podcast host

         Leader­ship begins with listening listening ALCHEMY inspires you to play and experiment with listening. Discover the gold in every circumstance, relationship, team and project.   read more about listening and leadership

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Too many interruptions are taking us away from what truly matters. We also see leaders afraid to listen. And this blocks the dynamics of listening, preventing a decision to trickle down to the lower echelons of the organization.

Sense-making is a process that uses listening as a tool to foster learning that encompasses innovation, creativity, and transformation. It supports all voices being heard and leads to successful business outcomes while having positive societal impact and a sense of belonging.

Dr. Gemma Jiang is the founding director of the Organizational Innovation Lab at the University of Pittsburgh. As a complexity leadership scholar and practitioner, Gemma is committed to bridging the "knowing-doing" gap by building capacity for addressing complex social challenges. She is involved in a diverse set of projects, including a National Science Foundation-funded convergence research project on circular economy and two Pittsburgh locally funded projects: the Pitt u.lab hub and the Adaptive Space.

In this episode, Gemma shares how projects she started, like, 'Let's do lunch' and 'Ideation Expo', set the tone for sense-making in its true meaning. Voices from the bottom are heard and listened to; fear barriers are broken, their concerns and aspirations taken into consideration. A picture of bottom-up and top-down interaction through listening can create an environment of learning and belonging.

"Listening engenders belonging. Learning and belonging mutually reinforce each other." - Gemma Jiang

Listen IN Notes:

00:01 - One of the key tools in sense-making: listening to each other and listening to the environment, making sense of it, and making adaptive changes based on what you hear.

02:35 - Relational measures and ecosystem awareness: how individuals work together with fellow team members.

06:05 - How you make sense of the ecosystem: you develop your relationship with the community you're a part of no matter how small or big.

08:17 - Understanding a bigger system through giving and receiving. Speaking through dialogues.

10:24 - Why everybody is so busy: there is not enough sense-making.

13:02 - An initiative she started called 'Let's do Lunch' -- a very bottom-up approach to listening.

17:36 - What is this 'Ideation Expo' she created -- where the bottom-up dynamic meets the top-down dynamics.

21:14 - Turning fear into taking action

24:27 - Do you listen to the fear, or do you listen to one's future highest potential?

25:06 - Where she experienced the power of listening: Asian culture gives more emphasis on listening versus the western culture

27:24 - The importance of sense-making where once you start to see things differently, the solution surfaces.

31:43 - Questions she asks in her research: How might organizations create enabling conditions to center listening and questioning?

32:20 - Where this question led her: Learning is only part of the story. The other part of the story is belonging.

36:20 - Listen to your people, they might have the answer.

37:05 - How can leaders listen to their people?

40:05 - Why are leaders afraid to listen?

42:56 - What are adaptive spaces and how can they support organizations?

49:49 - What does adaptive spaces encompass other than the physical space?

55:39 - How is listening tied to gratitude?

Key Takeaways:

"I think people...are too busy with action-taking. And that action-taking...is almost like a group of arrows, shooting out and around at the same time. There's no coordination, and there's no coherence in it. And the arrows are canceling each other out...That's why everybody's so busy; you are busy canceling out each other's efforts." - Gemma Jiang

"The mirroring back was absolutely amazing. It was like I became an owl; it's like I had a 360 view of the events. I was able to see perspectives and aspects of my challenge that I would never be able to see with my own perspective." - Gemma Jiang

"When everybody listens from their perspective, and when they mirror that back, it helps you to see your situation differently. It also helps you to see where the listener comes from. It's like all of a sudden multiple lightbulbs came out. I came to know myself better, my situation better, and also I came to know my listeners better." - Gemma Jiang

"If you have a question, listen to your people; they might have the answer." - Gemma Jiang

"A lot of times, we have this illusion that if you are a leader, you have a lot of space. But I think the reality, especially in more hierarchical organizations, it’s totally opposite. The higher you are in the hierarchy, the less room you have to be creative. What's more, the system demands you to carry on the agenda of the system." - Gemma Jiang

"Adaptive space stands in between the bottom-up dynamic, which we call adaptive leadership, and top-down dynamic, which we call administrative leadership. And adaptive space stands right in between these two and connects them." - Gemma Jiang

"I often tie listening with gratitude. Because it's a rare connection. It's a weird connection. But, in my mind, it makes sense because they are both in a state of receivership." - Gemma Jiang

"Organizational transformation is grounded in individual transformation. One message is probably to investigate and examine personal relationships with listening, and then bring those new insights into organizations and into any relationship that we are part of, what a transformative effect it has." - Gemma Jiang

Notes/Mentions:

• Theory U by Otto Scharmer: https://www.ottoscharmer.com/sites/default/files/Witten_Mindful_Leadership_h.pdf
• Otto Scharmer: https://www.ottoscharmer.com/

Connect with Gemma Jiang:

• LinkedIn

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Have you ever noticed how rushing conversations and negotiations can create unnecessary misunderstandings? Or even cause us to miss the point which can lead to critical business outcomes? How can you intentionally listen leading to more effective, innovative solutions?

Feedback loops integrating asking, listening, connecting and developing are key towards successful negotiations and building strong business relationships.

With over 30 years of international business management experience, Juergen Scherer shares how he puts this into practice and how this has had a huge impact in the business world. He is a Business Consultant, Coach and Lecturer at BXB Exchange, and a Senior Executive & Member of Executive Committees. His experience ranges in many areas with a strong focus on Sales, Key Account Management, and Procurement / Supply Chain Management within Global FMCG, Chemical and Industrial Packaging Industries.

In this episode, Juergen talks about reflective listening and how it is needed for negotiation and sales with business partners to reach a win-win-win solution.

"Listening is a core element. And it's often overlooked...It is a combination of asking, listening, connecting, and developing."

- Juergen Scherer

Listen IN Notes:

00:39 - Talking about his first conscious recognition of the power of listening: reference to Stephen Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, particularly one which says, 'Seek first to understand, then to be understood.'

03:16 - One exercise that struck him the most on the power of listening: a seller-buyer negotiation role-play called the orange quarrel

07:13 - Listening as a significant step in combination with other steps you need to develop relationships important for negotiating with your business partners.

10:34 - What is reflective listening, and how does this help in the conversation or negotiation process?

16:04 - How superficial conversations leads to massive misunderstandings

20:25 - Reflection on the pace Juergen speaks: One way to give your own thinking enough time even as you speak.

21:44 - Referencing material by a marketing professor talking about the responsibility that comes with saying, 'I understand.'

24:51 - Why is it not good enough to ask a question with a yes or no answer: a classic example for a closed question.

28:05 - Deepening relationships between companies more than just being transactional

30:56 - 'Connect and develop' -- Juergen shares his personal experience with Procter & Gamble and the start of open innovation among companies

35:56 - How to understand unmet or unspoken needs -- asking open questions, listening, ensuring that there is some understanding is the starting point for developing the solution.

39:10 - Creating innovation, ideas, and solutions and nurturing relationships

40:46 - Advice for people just starting out in their careers: Self-awareness of those aspects of listening, seek out training opportunities, practice each and every day and seek out feedback.

Key Takeaways:

"Listening is a core element. And it's often overlooked. But it only makes sense, and it only is a component of moving forward and achieving something if it is in a sequence of activities. It is a combination of asking, listening, connecting, and developing." - Juergen Scherer

"Everything in a relationship, not only in a business relationship...is built on mutual trust. And this is where I believe listening has an enormous influence as a trust-building factor." - Juergen Scherer

"The reality is, two-thirds of global trade is in business to business...And in a B2B context, what we are talking about is a continuous process over days, weeks, months, years. It is a constant coming back to conversations, to negotiations, to trust-building steps, to relationship management, and back to the listening aspect." - Juergen Scherer

"What we both agreed on as mutual understanding a week ago might have changed. So don't assume that once you have achieved this understanding, it will stay forever. It won't. Because all our life circumstances and business circumstances are moving targets. We know that, and new things could have happened. So I need to start over and reassure. And again, ask, listen, and understand before I move forward." - Juergen Scherer

"The open question asking, the listening, the ensuring that there is some understanding is the starting point for developing the solution." - Juergen Scherer

Notes/Mentions:

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen Covey: https://www.amazon.com/Habits-Highly-Effective-People-Powerful/dp/0743269519
• The Harvard Business and the Harvard Law School: https://hls.harvard.edu/dept/academics/degree-programs/special-programs/joint-jd-master-degree-programs/joint-degree-program-in-law-business/#hlsnav-overview
• Getting to Yes: https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Yes-Negotiating-Agreement-Without/dp/0143118757

Connect with Juergen Scherer:

• bxb-exchange.com/
• LinkedIn

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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     TEDx NU­REM­BERG RAQUEL ARK  https://youtu.be/7wgFrKRjYiA         Grow­ing your  liste­ning  super­power   How does growing your listening superpower help you to work smarter and feel better?

Recently shared at Tedx Nuremburg, Raquel’s experiential keynote takes you on a journey so you can grow your listening superpower and be a more effective communicator. She inspires, empowers, and motivates the audience in playful ways to practice listening so that everyone can work smarter and feel better. She engages the audience to experiment with listening and learn new skills they can apply right away with their colleagues and their family. They will learn how to transform communication into connection opening doors to creative solutions and meaningful collaboration, especially when challenges arise.

This keynote can be combined with an experiential listening workshop and is a great spark for healthier and more productive conversations during company events.

This talk can be delivered remotely or in person.

Key topics covered are:

• Discovering the power of listening
• What science is learning about our listening power and its impact on both the listener and the speaker
• How listening helps us work smarter and feel better
• Transforming communication into connection
• Listening to yourself is the starting point
• High impact by listening to yourself, others, and the bigger picture
• Playful tips on how to listen so that your voice can be heard
• Enjoying partnering with listening so that you can increase your impact and wellbeing.

Keynote and speaker events: Leadership3 Festival 2016, International Listening Association 2021 Convention, Podfest 2021 Women in Podcasting, Tedx Nuremburg 2021

Experiential workshops: more than I can count.

Yes! I would love to inspire more listening in our organization and would like more information!

contact me

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Listening unites and connects us. Taking time to stop and listen to others, despite culture, race, sexual orientation, views, can create a deep human connection even when we have strong differences of opinions.

The powerful transformation brought by listening is one of the simple changes the world never knew we actually needed. No limitations, no differences, just human connection and acceptance through listening.

Juliana Tafur is the creator of Listen Courageously, award-winning filmmaker of “List(e)n”, board member of the International Listening Association, and former Discovery networks content executive. She is convinced that listening to stories has the ability to change us.

She has been on a listening journey since producing “List(e)n”, a documentary that brings together people on opposite ends of the spectrum to connect at a human level and transcend their differences.

She’s the CEO of Story Powerhouse, and via award-winning films creates safe spaces for employees at organizations and academic institutions to share, listen to each other and learn skills to cope with today’s challenges.

“Listening is transformative. It's the most powerful thing that anyone can engage in. And it's so simple, but we don't know enough about it. And we are not given opportunities where we can engage in pure, deep, and sincere present empathetic listening.” - Juliana Tafur

Listen IN Notes:

00:33 - Julianna shares the first time she realized the importance and impact of listening

03:13 - What did Juliana do after noticing the undeniable power of listening?

04:21 - All about Juliana’s Listening Courageously Workshops and how it has influenced people

12:54 - Where does the feeling of satisfying relief come from after taking Juliana’s workshop?

14:57 - Juliana talks about communication boundaries and listening problems at an organizational level

17:24 - What do organizations and NGOs ask and what do they receive afterward?

22:22 - Juliana shares what drives her forward in pursuing listening and helping people to understand its powerful value

26:12 - Words to describe Juliana is bringing her whole self to her work

27:55 - The realizations and learnings of Juliana after creating a micro-universe that beautifully shares the power of listening

30:23 - Juliana shares what she would love to understand more about listening

32:14 - Juliana talks about the common questions she’s been asked in workshops

36:29 - Juliana’s ideas and thoughts on how listening can be implemented or happen more in organizations

Key Takeaways:

“We connect at a human level with people, regardless of who we are, where we come from, and who they are, or what their story is.” - Juliana Tafur

“When we listen courageously, when we step out of our comfort zones and understand that at the end of that discomfort of, "You believe this. I believe that. We're never going to agree.” ...there might be a sense of relief when we stop to get to know each other.” - Juliana Tafur

“A lot of people don't think it's possible to connect across our divides and across our differences as people. And they are relieved, because we're all so tired of it, whether we want to recognize it, acknowledge it or not. We're just exhausted.” - Juliana Tafur

“(Listening) is more about creating spaces for people to voice concerns, to voice what they have gone through.” - Juliana Tafur

“We are all recognizing that we are not separate from what is happening around us.”

- Juliana Tafur

“By creating spaces where people are sharing what has impacted them, we are opening the door for them to do the same when they go back to work. We are opening the door for people to acknowledge..."This has happened to me...because of the color of my skin or my race or cultural background." - Juliana Tafur

“We are actually suggesting that...those things that have shaped us and matter to us also inform what we bring to the workplace, the way that we see things, decisions, creativity. We bring solutions that we might contribute with passion, especially things that we care deeply about, because of what we have gone through or experienced in life.” - Juliana Tafur

Connect with Juliana Tafur:

• Website: https://listencourageously.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/listen.courageously/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listen.courageously/
• Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianatafur/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Consider a time when you spent a lot of time and resources with a group trying to solve a problem, and it seemed like nothing happened as a result. You didn’t feel valued and thought you wasted your time. You wouldn’t do that again.

Annie brings clarity as to why this happens in the decision-making process and what the bigger story may be. She helps us consider our role of listening as a leader and how to move beyond checking off the listening box to instead be an effective leader, inspiring people to continue to be engaged in the work that matters.

Annie Rappeport is a current International Education and Policy Ph.D. candidate at the University of Maryland, College Park and an Ann C. Wylie Dissertation Fellow for 2021. Her research focus areas are memory construction, peacebuilding and conflict transformation after conflict and natural disasters. In 2020, Annie received the University of Maryland Outstanding Graduate Student Distinguished Service award for her two years of service as the Graduate Student Government President, as an active representative on university task forces related to mental health, affordability and access in higher education, diversity and inclusion and civic engagement. Annie is an active member of the International Listening Association and the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation furthering her commitment to the value of listening based servant leadership and community engagement.

Alongside her dissertation, Annie pursues research related to strategic listening and effective dialogue towards health democracies in the United States and in the Israeli-Palestinian context. Her work in dialogue and listening in healthcare settings led her to Dublin, Ireland to speak for the International Listening Association. Annie has testified repeatedly at the Maryland General Assembly for student related issues including the Student Voter Empowerment Act and the Right for Graduate Student Employees to Collectively Bargain.

In this episode, be surprised at how listening catalysed a shy, quiet person into a strong leader working with complex situations. Annie will share her story as well as help you to understand better what is needed so that the value of listening is not lost.

Annie also talks about how power plays a role and how to work around those who choose not to listen. She touches on the non-verbal form of listening, where breathing is one way to cue into what's going on in another person's mind and heart. She also talks about a balanced way of having a dialogue-focused listening conversation where you not only take in what others have to offer; you also contribute to enhancing communication for better decision-making and change.

"Human relationships are what matter. And being authentic, learning about the people you're working with, the people you represent, the people you lead, and following through with them and showing your gratitude to them are the whole cycle. And it needs to happen over and over."

- Annie Rappeport

Listen IN Notes:

01:46 - Annie shares her interesting childhood experiences of listening, which now has a huge influence on how she listens.

04:42 - She shares how she was always shy, curious and in an listening absorption mode to best relate to the circumstances.

06:12 - That pivotal (and scary) moment that influenced her approach to listening where listening and having a voice is now more balanced - she calls this dialogue-focused.

11:52 - Listening as the core to about every area; also listening to nonverbal cues

13:00 - Annie shares how breathing and listening interplay.

16:24 - How this listening approach helps in education: the shift from absorption to a more participatory mode

20:12 - Leadership is listening to the environment, and being in tune with your community as well.

22:55 - One impactful listening experience she has: ongoing research projects understanding better the efforts of peace-based organizations that are centered around listening, specifically between communities in the Middle East, in Israel and Palestine. She shares examples of how to help listening be possible, also in extreme circumstances of conflict and how this supports overall leadership development.

29:40 - Power dynamics: How it impacts how much people are willing to share, listen, and act upon what they're hearing.

31:07 - What does it mean for leaders to listen and not just check off a box?

37:35 - Understanding the power dynamics to help get positive ideas to come alive.

46:16 - A missed opportunity: when elements of a discussion had been integrated into a decision, but it never got relayed back to those who were part of the conversation.

52:17 - Why it’s important to be aware of these gaps: the need for follow through after being in the listening sessions

53:04 - Annie’s nugget of wisdom that could impact you personally and at work: Be the leader in your world, wherever that is. That you are making sure those gaps don't happen.

58:23 - How to listen being curious with empathy and compassion: taking a moment to unlearn your preconceived notions, and making yourself a blank slate, even if it's just for a moment

Key Takeaways:

"Listening just to how the people around you are breathing can really tell you so much about where they are in their minds or in their hearts." - Annie Rappeport

"When people feel listened to, it just changes everything." - Annie Rappeport

"Those one-on-one conversations are what people remember; it's how I've been able to keep in touch with and have long-lasting relationships with the people I work with, which is meaningful, personally, to me. It made me, more importantly, effective as a leader; I remember them as a person...And I know at a meta-level, that helps me truly advocate for them better." - Annie Rappeport

"If you're able to, before you ask a critical question, take a moment to pause and wipe your brain clean of your preconceived notions. It can make for some incredible moments of mutual understanding. And I think those are important in dialogue and listening scenarios." - Annie Rappeport

Notes / Mentions:

• New Story Leadership: https://www.newstoryleadership.org/our-vision

Connect with Annie Rappaport:

• LinkedIn
• arappepo@terpmail.umd.edu

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Being a leader in a Vuca (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) world is not easy and according to Susanne Marell, requires listening. And listening takes different forms. Listening to the market and customer trends, listening to my team needs, listening to individual needs and listening to feedback from my team, not to mention the questions that arise.

How can we listen in a way that gives us energy to think strategically and create success in a company, even through challenging mergers and acquisitions.

Susanne Marell is CEO of Hill+Knowlton Strategies in Germany. Before joining H+K she was Managing Director at JP KOM and prior to that she served as CEO of Edelman for six years, overseeing the acquisition and merger with ergo Kommunikation.

She started her career as a consultant with the agency Kohtes & Klewes (now Ketchum). In the following years, Marell worked for companies such as Schering, Hoechst and Aventis CropScience. As Head of Communications and Market Services, her responsibilities included strategic communications support for merger and acquisition activities. In 2000, she moved to the chemical company Cognis and, as Vice President Corporate Communications, took over the management of worldwide corporate and sustainability communications. Following the acquisition of Cognis by BASF in 2010, Susanne was responsible for global brand management as Vice President Corporate Brand Management at BASF in Ludwigshafen.

Susanne is a certified systemic consultant and change expert. She has many years of international experience in communications, marketing and sustainability, both on the corporate and agency side. In addition, she is a co-founder of the German network of "Global Women in PR" and has built up the initiative "Next Gen Leadership" as a member of the extended board.

In this episode, Susanne Marell shares how continuous feedback is needed to be a great leader; it helps you listen to make a more objective assessment while keeping you on the pulse of the organization, what your team needs and how you can move together towards a common goal with market trends top of mind.

She points out that psychological safety, where people are provided a safe space to be heard without fear of consequences, ensures open and honest feedback.

She also highlights the importance of leaders understanding market and customer trends first when leading teams. She calls this an outside-in approach so that you can understand the bigger picture around what you want to achieve by listening to all the stakeholders.

"A leader needs feedback to be a good leader."

- Susanne Marell

Listen IN Notes:

01:10 - The first time she experienced being a communication practitioner and becoming a good leader

02:40 - Only by listening in a new business model will you be able to understand the context and how things play together

05:14 - How listening supported her leadership role as being part of an integration team

9:25 - To better understand what is behind any criticism and feedback: You must learn how to frame things, dig into the details, and learn the context of what you put in your story line,. If they [colleagues] are positive towards you, they will stress test your vision.

13:57 - Feedback being the highest value for a leader

16:46 - Providing psychological safety in leadership sessions

19:13 - Going in front of people [employees and investors] even in uncertain times and you don't know all the answers

21:28 - What it means to be a leader in a VUCA world

23:13 - Focusing your team on the outside in

24:56 - Giving a Northstar is just as important as giving people the 100 criteria

27:08 - What does being agile in today's world mean?

37:50 - He who poses the questions is the one who leads

43:28 - One listening style: Posing questions on a 360 degree angle

45:23 - Having a full scope of questions beyond Zoom meetings avoids risks in losing so

many things

47:48 - Finding the right way to be on the pulse of your organization, of your teams, and of

your decisions

49:43 - Creative ways you can do where voices are heard outside of work environment

51:38 - Is listening agreeing to what people say?

Key Takeaways:

"In all of these projects, where I was part of integration teams, I simply had to listen very well first to give a good recommendation about how we could integrate teams. But also to develop the vision of why these companies work together and put this vision in a storyline, which would be understood by all people globally." - Susanne Marell

"Feedback is something which is of the highest value for a leader. If I'm getting feedback, this helps me to develop, but it also helps me to give a better analysis of where my team stands where my plans stand." - Susanne Marell

"The positive part of listening is you get feedback." - Susanne Marell

"Leading in uncertain times simply means that you have to navigate your team through those times as best as possible, even if you don't always have the answers." - Susanne Marell

"It is best to tackle with trust. Because if I trust my people that they will strive for the best solutions, they will come to me for guidance, then it's easier for me to decide without having all the facts." - Susanne Marell

"Your North Star is of even bigger importance. Because if you have the direction clear where you would like to go, then at least you have a kind of decision corridor, even if you do not all have the facts and things are changing." - Susanne Marell

"When we just focus on Zoom teams and just checking where we stand with our business, we will lose so many things. Now we have a full scope of questions adjusted to the person I talked to." - Susanne Marell

Connect with Susanne Marell:

• LinkedIn
• https://www.hkstrategies.com/
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Have you ever paid attention to the assumptions we have in our conversations with different people? Often when we’re listening to another person tell their story, we’re listening for the things that we want to hear rather than what the other person is trying to show us at that moment. This bias blocks our listening fully to the other person.

Lori Joubert takes us on a deep dive into the art of listening and how we can listen towards a better world of understanding.

In this episode, Lori talks about her idea of what good listening is, the importance of being heard by people and equally hearing them and their stories. She also speaks about what is at stake if we don’t keep moving toward a listening culture. She explains how she practices being present and also shares insights on how you can become part of the solution – how you can practice listening as a powerful tool for people to experience in life.

Lori Joubert is a dedicated coach, facilitator, trainer, and Certified Listening Professional with over 20 years of experience leading and managing groups and individuals with an emphasis on listening. She received her degrees in Speech Communications from the University of Washington.

Since then she has taught, modeled and promoted good listening in several arenas. She has served on the board of the International Listening Association (ILA) in different roles, recently as president. Lori brings a deep desire to serve and a commitment to seeing all sides of every situation. She enjoys bringing people together for the benefit of building healthy and successful relationships. She is naturally curious about people and passionate about listening as an essential human activity.

Her big vision is to really sustain people’s connection through listening and continue to build listening more through genuine and meaningful relationships. She believes that by being part of a community that wholeheartedly believes that listening has a meaningful and powerful place in organizations and in our life, she’s able to live life better and be of help to others.

“Silence is not inactive; it’s actually active. There is a lot going on within the silence that we underestimate all the time...a lot of good listening is happening in moments of silence.” – Lori Joubert

Grow Your Listening Superpower for Lasting Impact! Coming Soon in May 2021!

Learn and practice 7 Listening Superpowers that really work. Sign-up to the mailing list and get a chance for a 30% discount if you mention that you heard the details of the workshop from the Listen IN podcast: Go to https://www.listeningalchemy.com/ Now.

Valuable Resource:

• Kate Murphy’s “You’re Not Listening: Here’s What You’re Missing and Why It Matters”
• International Listening Association (ILA)

Listen IN Notes:

0:41 – Lori Joubert and her role in the International Listening Association: its mission and her vision.

02:06 – The memory where she truly realized the power of listening: a casual conversation with a friend who appeared to be genuinely listening and curious about what she was saying.

04:13 – How Lori has been influential with listening and a book that has been influencing her at the moment.

07:43 – Awareness about checking assumptions when talking with people.

11:34 – The healthcare setting and the respectful listening that happens; Having people specifically ask for listening.

14:13 – The strategy she uses to help her listen in a way that is supportive: being relaxed and open.

18:40 – Lori and her work with research and writing: how listening is taught in large complex organizations.

22:50 – What is her version of what good listening means and the presence of good listening in silence.

28:37 – How to make sure your voice is heard even when you’re under pressure.

31:00 – Listening and the cultural norms: the organizational structure and training for listening.

37:58 – Her new realizations and thoughts after answering the questions in this episode.

39:05 – What Lori already knows on how she can help: being available for people and sharing her resources.

Key Takeaways:

“Oftentimes, when we’re listening to another person tell their story, we’re listening for the things that we want to hear, rather than listening for what the other person is trying to show us at that moment; and that blocks listening.” – Lori Joubert

“If you walk into a conversation with some sort of notion already of how you think that conversation’s gonna go, you’ve already stopped listening.” – Lori Joubert

“Learning one’s culture is significant to listening. It helps you adapt and become a better listener.” – Lori Joubert

“Don’t give up. If you’ve gotta handle on something that’s working in the way you listen, or you see others are listening, or the way you see listening is being taught in your organization, stick with it, carry on, and keep looking at how to make it grow.” – Lori Joubert

Notes/Mentions:

• Kate Murphy’s “You’re Not Listening: Here’s What You’re Missing and Why It Matters”
• International Listening Association (ILA)

Connect with Lori Jubert:

• lori.joubert@listen.org
• Website: https://listen.org
• Linkedin

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: +491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Imagine software that can be used to cultivate meaningful connections online. According to Lorenz Sell, this is possible by creating a container where small groups can deeply “listen” to each other, both sync and async.

95% of people who engage in online learning are likely to drop out. In this episode, Lorenz Sell shares how it is possible to create impactful learning experiences online through deep listening in ways that may surprise you and in turn gain 100% engagement. He shares his story when he first recognized the importance of integrating listening into small groups, and how this inspires him when he writes code. He talks about his insights on the importance and effectiveness of tracking how you listen over time, and the unique force small groups bring in engaging individuals so that they experience a deep and genuine sense of connection.

Lorenz describes his entrepreneurial journey and how deep listening has played a role. Not only has he learned a lot about himself and his internal landscape, he has also learned about what happens with others when you listen in various ways, what happens when people listen to you, and how this has inspired his drive to make possible generative listening in the online environment. His participation with the ulab program of the Presencing Institute back in 2015 gave him his first encounter with strangers online where he felt a deep sense of connection. Since then, he strives to provide people the life-changing power of a heartfelt relationship in small groups.

Lorenz Sell is the co-founder of Sutra – an all in one course and community solution for heart centered educators. His interest in community dynamics began after attending the Burning Man Festival in 2007. He has spent almost two decades building technology companies and has a deep interest in online. Sutra has supported programs at the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, leadership programs at the UN and the Presencing Institute, as well as many other organizations and individuals. Together with his partner and co-founder, Lorenz has helped hundreds of people create impactful learning experiences online. He is a certified yoga teacher and received a degree in Computer Engineering from Tufts University.

“In my world view, the path to peace was to keep listening. The path to peace was cultivating a capacity to truly receive one another – to truly listen at a much deeper level.” – Lorenz Sell

Grow Your Listening Superpower for Lasting Impact! Coming Soon in May 2021!

Learn and practice 7 Listening Superpowers that really work. Sign-up to the mailing list and get a chance for a 30% discount if you mention that you heard the details of the workshop from the Listen IN podcast: Go to https://www.listeningalchemy.com/ Now.

Valuable Resource:

• Transformational Teaching Online at https://transformation.sutra.co
• https://www.presencing.org

Listen IN Notes:

0:27 – The first time Lorenz noticed the real essence of listening: His experience with the Presencing Institute’s u.lab program where the four levels of listening was emphasized.

02:24 – The four levels of listening discussed by the Presencing Institute: (1) Downloading, (2) Factual Listening, (3) Empathic Listening, and the (4) Generative Listening.

03:20 – The moment he first heard of these four levels of listening and when he experienced what those levels meant for him.

08:28 – The back story of all these: the experience that really brought his awareness to the possibility of peace.

15:05 – What is different with online connection and what he learned about creating experiences for deep levels of communication.

19:32 – Lorenz talks about his company Sutra and what it does: how to bring more relevant human connections around the world and connect people in communities to share knowledge.

22:45 – How unique Sutra is from other platforms: The heart of all their work revolves in creating spaces where there is a deep level of presence and connection between participants as they share in small groups.

29:49 – The similarity of visual drawings to the tagging feature of Sutra: allowing people to see what just happened in the conversation.

32:04 – The complexity of online communities. There’s no magic formula to do everything.

35:04 – Lorenz’s advice for younger engineers in relation to creating code that can have impact on deep connection.

39:21 – The mentorship program: Transformational Teaching Online.

Key Takeaways:

“If you don’t know listening as a thing, then you can’t really practice it.” – Lorenz Sell

“One of the ways that people can feel deeply connected is when they create something together.” – Lorenz Sell

“Conversations can be unstructured and in a chaotic space, and that’s the beauty of it. It’s the unpredictability of it that gives the magic to it. It allows for something to be spoken or phrased in a new way that is just perfect and really captures something.” – Lorenz Sell

“Not every person needs to have an aspiration to have an impact on the world...but if there is an aspiration for a person to do so, really find what’s meaningful to them and engage in that inquiry very earnestly, because that inquiry can be an adventure.” – Lorenz Sell

Notes/Mentions:

• Transformational Teaching Online at https://transformation.sutra.co
• https://www.presencing.org

Connect with Lorenz Sell:

• Website: https://sutra.co
• Email address: Lorenz@sutra.co
• LinkedIn

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: +491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Our busy minds can get in our way with connecting to ourselves and others. Often we blame it on all of the distractions around us. Yet, have you ever paid attention to your basic physical energy level and noticed that after a good night’s sleep you feel like your battery has been charged and you feel open again to the people around you? Understanding and experiencing the difference between listening to yourself, others and the bigger picture is the secret to leading through listening.

In this episode, Victor focuses on leadership in listening. He explains seven levels of listening and and how to shift between listening to yourself, others and the bigger picture. He shares examples of how to get rid of the noise we all struggle with and tap into the silence needed for visioning while being responsive to the needs of those around us. His dream is for leadership in listening to impact at a larger scale in organizations, between countries or even helping to heal our humanity.

Victor Pierau is an economist with extensive experience in business and psychotherapy. He is fascinated by human interaction and has spent many years studying the science of listening. He discovered that listening takes place on seven levels. He wrote a fascinating and educational book about this, entitled: Leadership in Listening. He has been training and coaching various professionals and entire organizations in better listening for years. Victor owns the company Connessence. Connessence means connecting with the essence.

“Can we really be open to someone else without our ego standing in the way? If we're going to do that, then we start listening to someone else. Otherwise, we only listen to ourselves, to our own ego thoughts.” - Victor Pierau

Valuable Resource:

Leadership in Listening: The 7 levels of listening for professionals https://eur-leiderschapinluisteren.nl/en-gb/landingspagina

Listen IN Notes:

02:05 - The first time he noticed the impact listening: The time in his childhood when he was a mediator between his parents helping them dialogue through listening

04:04 - What advice he would give to his younger self: I love you, and you did a great job. It was not your work, it was theirs. But, you found a treasure there, and this treasure can be given to the world.

04:48 - The three orientations to listening: listening to yourself, listening to others, listening to the big picture

06:50 - What listening to himself made him realize.

09:16 - How to help people start to listen: we give people experiences so they can listen to themselves and discover how they are bound by their own ego parts.

11:26 - Taking a look at how ego parts play out in life: Mostly it’s the unconscious self, and they are born anywhere in your life sometimes to let you survive, and sometimes they are more conscious.

17:34 - When someone else can help us to listen to ourselves

21:04 - Moving from ego to personality - how this supports in helping businesses manage their teams

23:33 - Leadership in listening in business: I have this strong ego, but I make the conscious choice to let go of it. And realize that when I'm really connected with other people, really connected with my team members, then we can grow much further.

30:28 - What are the seven levels of distortion or noise and how to get rid of them with the seven levels of listening?

35:02 - How does listening to your own convictions help find inspiration in other’s convictions?

40:15 -How the simple exercise of talking order impacts listening

42:22 - Why these two go together: Facilitation skills and wanting to listen

44:05 - What is the essence of listening?

44:58 - How do we get organizations to be aware of their poor listening skills and the value of listening.

49:00 - The need for further listening research and sharing the results of listening impact to the world

50:38 - Victor sharing his biggest dream

Key Takeaways:

“When you forget to listen to yourself, well, then you don't know if you listen well to anyone else.” - Victor Pierau

“To begin with, it is so important that you have a real connection with yourself, by listening to yourself. And if you're able to do that, then you can start listening to someone else.” - Victor Pierau

“Listening to yourself means that you are getting a better picture of your own ego parts.” - Victor Pierau

“We have all of those ego parts in ourselves -- with those emotions, with those convictions. And if we are not aware of them, there is a kind of filter between what someone is telling us and what we can hear.” - Victor Pierau

“The importance of listening to someone else is that you can help others in discovering their own ego parts.” - Victor Pierau

“It's really a matter of choice where you want to listen to. Is it your own needs? Or is it the bigger picture we are serving in this organization, or the bigger picture of why we are together in a team where I am the manager.” - Victor Pierau

“Leadership in listening not only applies to a team or as a manager, but this applies on a global level, as well. And when I realized that...then you can see that listening can heal wounds, not only on an interpersonal level but also at a global level. It's not only about things or managers, it's also about countries, and also about humanity.” - Victor Pierau

“When you listen to someone else, you listen to the convictions of someone else. And you try to listen to the inspiration of other people. But when your own convictions are so hard, then it's maybe impossible to listen to what someone else has to say. So (that person) is not able to inspire you because of your own convictions.” - Victor Pierau

Connect with Victor Pierau:

• E: victor@connessence.nl
• connessence.nl

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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What does listening have to do with belonging? There is currently a lot of buzz around the cost to organizations when employees do not feel belonging. Yet it’s not just buzz. There is more and more research showing that when employees feel like they belong, organizations can reap bottom-line benefits.

In this episode, Sarah describes how listening is the practice of showing people that they belong, and is a key capacity needed to activate the value-creating all the buzz.

She talks about the importance of recognizing that while it is the employers’ responsibility to shape belonging experiences, work cannot be the only focus. A leader can also foster a sense of belonging when they support individuals in their team discover belonging and identity outside of work. For example, having time and resources to spend time with friends, taking a class, joining a club or volunteering.

Sarah Judd Welch is the Principal & CEO of Sharehold, an innovation consultancy that designs and fosters belonging with teams and communities navigating change. As a community and organizational designer, Sarah believes that it is our collective responsibility to create environments and cultures in which everyone is seen, heard, and valued. Sarah is Dare to Lead trained and most recently led the research report Redesigning Belonging: How Uncertainty Magnifies Belonging at Work which resulted in a group assessment tool for visualizing and improving belonging experiences. Her clients range from Google and Anheuser Busch to The Skoll Foundation and Meetup.

“Listening is...a process for showing people that they belong. It's not enough to simply listen, you need to also take action. And you also need to show up and act in a way on an ongoing basis that shows people they are seen, heard and valued, and that they fit within the group in a system.” - Sarah Judd Welch

Valuable Resource:

A group assessment tool for visualizing and improving belonging experiences -- Redesigning Belonging: How Uncertainty Magnifies Belonging at Work: https://www.sharehold.co/redesigningbelonging

Listen IN Notes:

00:38 - The time she began to notice just how powerful listening could be as an organizational capacity and as a lever for change.

02:10 - What is a innovation consultancy?

04:14 - The natural output of her company’s growth and evolution over time -- If you want to see change externalized in the world, you must start with yourself, then start with the organization then go out into the community.

07:02 - Describing how organizations that were more successful were the ones that listen better.

10:10 - How did one company who listened better become more successful: becoming a more digital and content-oriented company as opposed to more of a traditional marketing company

16:10 - What happens when insights are rejected by decision-makers: It's oftentimes foreboding of a really challenging future where an organization is unable to meet the needs of a specific set of stakeholders.

17:04 - What one company learned when they become responsive towards insights: Reframing their value proposition

18:31 - Sometimes there is hesitancy and fear to listen to customers: A story about a client who was surprised to be able to leverage their learnings to reposition their membership to be much more about being in community with people and supporting the global movement

20:15 - Two different research approaches used to get insights for companies: Conduct survey and direct interviews

22:21 - How listening gave Tokeativity valuable insight: they learned how to directly engage their community

24:36 - The holistic shift that happens in companies after listening: It's really about reorienting the organization to serving your primary stakeholder, which is oftentimes the customer.

25:32 - The core outcome of a report called Redesigning Belonging -- How Uncertainty Magnifies Belonging at Work: a group assessment tool for visualizing and improving belonging experiences inside of both teams and groups at large.

30:21 - Insights from the research on belonging: Uncertainty magnifies belonging experiences both negatively and positively.

33:45 - The responsibility that a leader takes to shape belonging experiences in the organization according to insights from the belonging research

34:12: - What do belonging experiences look like?

38:09 - How does listening impact belonging?

40:44 - Listening as a way of demonstrating belonging: Participating in the listening research and sharing insights from the result of the research to their community

What does listening have to do with belonging? There is currently a lot of buzz around the cost to organizations when employees do not feel belonging. Yet it’s not just buzz. There is more and more research showing that when employees feel like they belong, organizations can reap bottom-line benefits.

In this episode, Sarah describes how listening is the practice of showing people that they belong, and is a key capacity needed to activate the value-creating all the buzz.

She talks about the importance of recognizing that while it is the employers’ responsibility to shape belonging experiences, work cannot be the only focus. A leader can also foster a sense of belonging when they support individuals in their team discover belonging and identity outside of work. For example, having time and resources to spend time with friends, taking a class, joining a club or volunteering.

Sarah Judd Welch is the Principal & CEO of Sharehold, an innovation consultancy that designs and fosters belonging with teams and communities navigating change. As a community and organizational designer, Sarah believes that it is our collective responsibility to create environments and cultures in which everyone is seen, heard, and valued. Sarah is Dare to Lead trained and most recently led the research report Redesigning Belonging: How Uncertainty Magnifies Belonging at Work which resulted in a group assessment tool for visualizing and improving belonging experiences. Her clients range from Google and Anheuser Busch to The Skoll Foundation and Meetup.

“Listening is...a process for showing people that they belong. It's not enough to simply listen, you need to also take action. And you also need to show up and act in a way on an ongoing basis that shows people they are seen, heard and valued, and that they fit within the group in a system.” - Sarah Judd Welch

Valuable Resource:

A group assessment tool for visualizing and improving belonging experiences -- Redesigning Belonging: How Uncertainty Magnifies Belonging at Work: https://www.sharehold.co/redesigningbelonging

Listen IN Notes:

00:38 - The time she began to notice just how powerful listening could be as an organizational capacity and as a lever for change.

in a transparent manner

41:37 - How did Sarah’s listening research and experience affect her as a person?

43:16 - Acknowledging the struggle to do listening for ourselves

43:44 - Tool to help visualize and act on the team’s experience of belongingness. Click here: https://www.sharehold.co/redesigningbelonging

45:44 - One interesting fact about design research as opposed to market research

46:00 - Her wish for the future: Suspend the pressure to think short-term and really think long-term.

48:10 - Encouraging words from Sarah: An internal listening practice for your team has real results for your customers.

Key Takeaways:

“Listening is the practice of showing people they belong.” - Sarah Judd Welch

“Listening is the capability and practice that allows you to be seen, heard, and valued in the creation and design process. You are designing specific solutions that are meeting their needs. That is how belonging and listening connect to each other.”- Sarah Judd Welch

“What we saw over time is that we really needed to broaden our focus to a much more holistic level of change, that for a community to move forward, you need to start from within the organization.” - Sarah Judd Welch

“Organizations that are listening well are in a relationship in various pathways with all of those stakeholders and have ways for them to solicit feedback, gather feedback, insight, and co-develop solutions together. They also know which other stakeholders are most important for them to listen to. And that's not necessarily dependent upon who has the most financial leverage.” - Sarah Judd Welch

“As a leader, it is your responsibility to shape belonging experiences at work, this is something that is within your capacity and your control and it is your job as a leader.” - Sarah Judd Welch

“While it is an employer’s and a leader’s responsibility to shape belonging experiences, work cannot be the only place where we feel that we belong.” - Sarah Judd Welch

“When you listen, you are able to understand what it is that people need, you hear them and by the very mere fact of listening to them, you are showing that you value their perspective, their inputs, and their opinions and that you respect their needs.” - Sarah Judd Welch

Notes / Mentions:

• American Medical Association: https://www.ama-assn.org/
• Tokeativity: https://tokeativity.com/

Connect with Sarah Judd Welch:

• LinkedIn
• E: sarah@sharehold.co

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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How do we open up ourselves to possibilities, new ideas, and solutions?

In this episode, Jane shares the impact of generative listening. She speaks about how her life and relationships have deepened and have become more meaningful as she has learned and practiced this type of listening. She shares stories about how listening helps others to think for themselves independently, with courage, imagination, and grace. And how this has business impact. She highlights that when we listen in a generative way, we give people the opportunity to become better speakers, better thinkers, and better presenters; we articulate our message well because we know we aren’t judged and interrupted. She describes how organizations can integrate listening to create an environment of inclusion.

Jane Adshead-Grant has a purpose, which is listening. Listening to ignite the best thinking, ideas and solutions in others. In her executive coach and facilitator roles she supports individuals and teams develop person-centric leadership and cultures where everybody matters generating people and business growth in harmony. She is a master credited coach and mentor coach with the ICF and emerging faculty member with Time to Think. Jane has over 30 years’ experience within people focused roles in professional and financial services.

“We make a choice to listen. And when we make a choice to listen, when we employ discipline to listen at this level, lives change, lives change because this listening creates

in another personal transformation.” - Jane Adshead-Grant

Listen IN Notes:

00:43 - Jane describes her shift in thinking about different kinds of listening when she discovered Nancy Kline’s work on the Thinking Environment. How it changed her life as a coach, her relationships with her husband, her children, her friends. She learned how to listen at a deeper level, to generate the very best in others.

02:24 - What is generative listening? How it can be a transformational experience

03:31 - Jane’s understanding of generative listening: what we are doing is we are a generative force through listening.

08:10 - How we build the muscle of generative listening in an organization: it requires practice, and it requires discipline.

11:49 - How to work with leaders who might be afraid of generative listening. Mindset first: freeing your mind as a leader, that you have to solve the challenge or the development need for that individual.

14:39 - Stories of surprising outcomes in working with leaders in organizations. One story describes a lead counsel observing and modeling after Nancy and taking it to his team members and meetings.

17:24 - The value of ‘role modeling’ and showing appreciation

18:49 - Jane sharing stories of leaders’ transformational experiences in adapting generative listening in how they communicate with their clients

22:27 - Listening to helps people connect with their own resourcefulness

25:39 - What this journey in generative listening revealed to her and the realizations she has now that she had not thought of before

30:22 - What might get in the way of people listening deeply, what assumptions might one be holding about oneself or another, or the situation that prevents them from listening?

32:53 - The one word to describe the listening that helped Jane: The experience was insightful. It would reveal to her that she had within her what it took to get through what she was struggling with at the time.

38:04 - What her experience looks like when it’s difficult to listen to someone who has a very different view from your own. When do you not listen to somebody?

41:14 - Jane sharing about the research she’s doing now: looking at the impact of listening training on the participants and business outcomes.

43:50 - Jane shares simple exercises to help develop your listening capacity: First, reflect and notice the impact. Second, practice listening to someone free from interruption and judgment.

47:24 - A thought Jane shares that would help organizations consider listening: Think about the inclusivity within their organization and how listening can create an environment of inclusion.

49:49 - How she keeps abreast with listening: Regular practice, constantly observing what works, what gets in the way of people listening, and making connections with people.

50:52 - Jane shares an important thought we need to pay attention to when listening.

51:22 - Jane sharing her appreciation of Raquel’s work -- the breadth and depth that she brings to the topic of listening.

Key Takeaways:

“I think the leader, in this way of listening, is that their role is to help that individual think more for themselves -- creatively, resourcefully, independently. This will become a lot more empowering for people rather than the leader telling them what they need to be doing differently.” - Jane Adshead-Grant

“When others embrace this skill and recognize the impact of listening and take it wholeheartedly into their way of leading. It's just wonderful.” - Jane Adshead-Grant

“I have seen…individuals transform their lives through a time when they felt wholly listened to, and for the first time revealed what was holding them back from living the life that they chose to live.” - Jane Adshead-Grant

“As I rewind, when I started my journey on listening, I didn't know the power and the transformation that listening can generate.” - Jane Adshead-Grant

“I think to be a great listener; it’s very much an experiential experience. And so we need to practice both, we need to practice listening. And at the same time, we need to experience what it feels like to be really listened to.” - Jane Adshead-Grant

“Meetings are one of the most common ways of exchanging ideas and being together in the ways of working and I love to introduce rounds --giving people the equal turn to share their thoughts and ideas on a question... And I always love to start meetings with an appreciation round so that people feel that they've joined the meeting. Because people don't feel they’ve contributed...until they've actually spoken.” - Jane Adshead-Grant

“How do I ask questions that ignite the best in others? And to your point, it comes with listening. It's not simply about asking a question it's listening to how the person is responding.” - Jane Adshead-Grant

“One important thing to pay attention to, is noticing the impact of listening and appreciating people when they do it well.” - Jane Adshead-Grant

“Setting myself up as a practitioner rather than an expert keeps me abreast with my listening.” - Jane Adshead-Grant

Notes/Mentions:

• Thinking Environment by Nancy Kline: https://www.coachingcultureatwork.com/wp-content/uploads/Nancy-Klines-Thinking-Environmnet.pdf

Connect With Jane Adshead-Grant:

• janeadsheadgrant.com
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Everyone has had life and work experiences that we are afraid to share with others. Yet keeping it inside can influence how we feel and impact our behaviors at work and at home. And we may not always fully understand our experiences and our behaviors. This episode is an amazing example of how listening can be healing and transformational even when people experience atrocities that are the toughest a human being can imagine. If listening sparks resilience as it does in this story, then it can spark resilience in all of us, every day, moment by moment.

Liliane Pari Umuhoza is a Rwandan public speaker, human rights advocate, and founder of the "Women Genocide Survivors Retreat" program – a program that acts as a support system for the women survivors of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. She uses listening to create a transformative safe space for survivors to heal and improve life both psychologically and financially. Liliane currently works for Foundation Rwanda as a project officer.

Through her background education in Peace and Conflict studies, work with nonprofit organizations, and life experience of surviving the Genocide against the Tutsi, Liliane uses her awareness to fight against injustice and summon global dialogue and actions against human right abuses. She has spoken at events related to peace-building, human rights and women empowerment at universities, the UN, the Embassy of Rwanda in Washington DC, the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City, Oregon Historical Society Museum, and many others. She is now based in Kigali, Rwanda.

In this episode, Liliane shares how powerful listening can be. It was 14 years after the Genocide when she shared her story for the first time. Her best friend’s listening was the spark for her healing journey. This experience along with listening to stories of women in her community and noticing how this lifted the burden from their faces inspired the program she founded – Women Genocide Survivors Retreat – to support life-transforming experiences through listening to each other’s stories. Liliane shares how she has created the space for magic to be possible facilitating genuine listening in a group who has experienced trauma and how this transforms their lives after, both at home and at work.

Enjoy this conversation with Liliane, as we collectively work to make this world a better and safer place for everyone.

“What makes a space safe enough for people to share is about how we present ourselves in those spaces. Do we really listen without judging? Do we make people safe enough when they are around us? How do we communicate with the people around us? It’s just the simple gestures, but they can be big in someone’s life... and that starts from our homes.” - Liliane Umuhoza

Valuable resource:

Survivors’ Fund

https://survivors-fund.org.uk/news/women-genocide-survivors-retreat-3/

Genocide Survivors Foundation (GSF)

https://genocidesurvivorsfoundation.org/survivors-retreat/

College Oratorical Speech (Peace and Conflict Studies)

https://youtu.be/ZhSuEaL9MOI

Listen IN Notes:

0:39 – A narrative about the first time Liliane noticed the power of listening: knowing her story and accepting the reality of her experience, the spark of her healing journey.

17:51 - How Liliane was inspired to use her experiences to support her community: founding a women’s retreat.

19:37 - She talks about her time as an intern at Survivors Fund; listening to the survivors’ stories in their mother language and translating those into English; another moment where she felt the power of listening.

23:29 – Liliane shares what the Women Genocide Survivors Retreat program is all about.

26:20 – What makes listening and sharing our stories powerful in her perspective.

29:41 – Liliane shares what they do before and during the retreat in order to create a safe space; her experience with NGOs and its relation to the program.

32:05 – She remembers the situation of a survivor who is HIV positive from the genocide and the power the retreat had to transform her life.

34:44 – How she created a space of psychological safety for this to happen with a large group of women; The things to say so that participants are engaged and co-create their experience.

38:52 – How Liliane observes the weight being lifted from the survivors’ shoulders; A participant’s story in relation to the program’s impact on a survivor’s life.

46:03 – She talks about how she’s thinking further about listening and it’s power; How her life changed and how she wants to make sure people receive the same support around the world.

50:03 - Liliane shares her vision to impact schools.

51:43 - Sharing a personal experience where she failed to reflect on who she is too.

Key Takeaways:

“My generation grew up in a very messed-up environment where everybody was in a survival mode – figuring out where to start, but we survived.” - Liliane Pari Umuhoza

“I’ve been using the power of listening to also help people heal.” - Liliane Pari Umuhoza

“What shame does to a human being is that it makes you feel like you’re not worthy, that you don’t matter; but when you share your story and you see that people are listening to you, it brings back that sense of worthiness, brings back the confidence, the love for yourself. It helps people to connect as human beings and brings back the sense of humanity in people.” - Liliane Pari Umuhoza

“I think what’s wrong with some organizations is that we work for the people and not with the people.” - Liliane Pari Umuhoza

“Because people shared their stories, people felt seen and valued.” - Liliane Umuhoza

“There’s a lot of people nowadays that their actions are not really who they are… If we don’t give people the space to tell us what exactly is going on with their lives, we’re going to put them in a box of their actions, and that’s not who they really are. That’s not gonna help them. It’s gonna make the situation even worse. So, if we could create those safe spaces for people to share, there’s a lot of things that can be changed.” - Liliane Umuhoza

Notes/Mentions:

• Survivors’ Fund: https://survivors-fund.org.uk/news/women-genocide-survivors-retreat-3/
• Genocide Survivors Foundation (GSF: https://genocidesurvivorsfoundation.org/survivors-retreat/
• College Oratorical Speech (Peace and Conflict Studies: https://youtu.be/ZhSuEaL9MOI

Connect with Liliane Umuhoza:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/lilianepariumuhoza

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/raquel-ark-b2067613/?originalSubdomain=de

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How do we listen to really know if we are speaking our truth in our daily grind? When do we know if we are using our authentic voice or if we are repeating repetitive, memorized scripts inside our own bubbles of agreement? Elissa shares stories and examples to help us become more connected to our own inner truth, both at work and at home. This helps our ability to problem solve and create new solutions so that we don’t get stuck in stress, fear, and a feeling of unsafety. She also shares her 4-step model to transform conversations from a cancel culture into a conversation culture as a way forward to truly stand up for what’s right with openness, acceptance, and love. Enjoy this conversation with Elissa. Understand listening beyond what we typically consider by listening to your body, getting curious and having a team mindset as a starting point to tough conversations.

Elissa Weinzimmer is an award-winning vocal health educator, presence coach, and the founder of Voice Body Connection. After suddenly losing her own voice at age 21, Elissa began studying the mechanics of voice. Over time she developed a unique, concrete approach that empowers performers, leaders, and speakers to optimize their voices and share them more authentically.

Elissa's clients include Broadway stars, television personalities, politicians, and CEOs. She has led workshops for WeWork, Equinox, Microsoft, eBay, Instacart, and more, and has been featured in Business Insider, Thrive Global, Healthline, SheKnows, Authority Magazine, Career Contessa, Adweek, and Kajabi.

“Don’t forget that being truly present means listening and not just speaking.”

• Elissa Weinzimmer

Valuable Resource:

• Conversation Culture

https://voicebodyelissa.medium.com/cancel-culture-has-divded-us-what-we-need-is-conversation-culture-64ae568b322f

Listen IN Notes:

3:39 – How listening and voice work together – communication starts with two aspects: speaking and listening. A deeper sense of truth that people sometimes fail to tap into and share.

7:39 – Talking about the concept of conversation culture – as a response to cancel culture

10:57 – When do we walk away from a conversation/cancel vs. when do we converse/engage.

15:23 – The idea of soul in vedic philosophy. Concepts of creation, maintenance, and destruction instead of good and evil.

18:08 – Elissa shares when she started being aware of voice, communication, and conversation, specifically focusing on her memories as a child.

28:02 – Turning point that allowed Elissa to speak her words for those around her and not only for herself alone. A vocal hemorrhage, acid reflux, and severe clenching of muscles that lost her trust in her voice. How she learned to do less and just be.

34:09 – She shares tips on how to help people listen to you and your voice better.

41:03 – A strategy to help you when you’re running a meeting to bring charisma and presence in a remote meeting or on video.

43:22 – How to balance listening with having a voice that is authentic creating the foundation for a conversation culture. The three circles as self-focus, balanced focus, and others-focus.

Key Takeaways:

“Speaking and listening can happen with various organs of the body. It doesn’t necessarily need to be our vocal folds and our ears, but the ability to perceive what is going on, take it in, understand it, and then share our next piece of expression is the full process. It’s not complete without the half that is listening.” – Elissa Weinzimmer

“The deepest truth that we have to express is also able to be heard, able to be listened to, able to be received. So, if you feel like you’re good at speaking your truth but your truth is intense, violently hurting people around you, I think there’s always going to be a deeper layer of truth underneath that accounts for the fact that true communication includes speaking and listening.” –Elissa Weinzimmer

“When we have this manner of just shoving what we don’t want to deal with under the rug, canceling it in some form or fashion, it’s very difficult to live in alignment with our deepest truth.” - Elissa Weinzimmer

“There’s a part of ourselves that we’re not listening to, and when we’re not listening to that part of ourselves, how can we truly, effectively listen to others?” - Elissa Weinzimmer

“Listening doesn’t just have to deal with only listening to the other person, it also has to do with listening to yourself at the same time, and never leaving yourself behind, because it’s your own inner listening that’s going to help you understand how to proceed.” - Elissa Weinzimmer

“When we get to that space of curiosity, new possibilities can arrive. New solutions to the world’s problems can arise. So, to me, the purpose of doing work where I am seeking alignment with my own inner truth, expressing my truth with the world, communicating with others around me, listening to others around me, the purpose of all of all is so that we can access a quality of energy where new solutions can arise. We can expand, we can grow, we can feel more fully of ourselves; then, we’re just living better lives.” - Elissa Weinzimmer

“Our presence draws people into presence with us.” - Elissa Weinzimmer

“Don’t forget that being truly present means listening and not just speaking.” - Elissa Weinzimmer

“When we align with our inner truth, when we express it with the world, when we communicate with each other in a balanced, present way, it literally raises our vibration… just like a ripple process, it ripples around us and affects other people around us… it starts to elevate people in the society, and in that way, using our voices liberates us.” - Elissa Weinzimmer

Notes/Mentions:

• Conversation Culture

https://voicebodyelissa.medium.com/cancel-culture-has-divded-us-what-we-need-is-conversation-culture-64ae568b322f

• Mini-Course

www.voicebodyconnection.com/minicourse

Connect with Elissa Weinzimmer:

• www.voicebodyconnection.com

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/elissa-weinzimmer/

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com

• Mobile: + 491732340722

• contact@listeningalchemy.com

• LinkedIn

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It’s hard to function from a place of care and collaboration when everyone is under pressure. The complexity of different perspectives, opinions, budgets, deliverables, and stresses create even more challenges.

In this episode, Samantha shares about horizontal leadership and how listening plays a key role, along with managing time. She shares stories about how understanding a human being’s complexities help you deal with challenges in the workspace; creating an environment with a collaborative spirit. She also underscores the importance of light protocols which create a structure where teams can work in FLOW and deepwork together. They allow productivity to happen by efficiently utilizing time with collective effort. She also gets clear on the idea that people don’t necessarily need sympathy, consolation, or commentary; oftentimes, they just want to be seen and heard.

Samantha Slade is a collective entrepreneur, author, and participatory strategist. She believes that the social practices of togetherness are the oil that creates flow in our businesses and communities. From decision making to creation, our collective intelligence, when channeled wisely, carries the potential for productivity, innovation, and a more equitable world. Samantha poured two decades of applied research within her company, with clients and sister companies around the world, into her book Going Horizontal: Creating a Non-hierarchical Organization One Practice at a Time.

Samantha is co-founder of her own horizontal company, Percolab, an international co-creation, and co-design firm. She and her colleagues are dedicated to pioneering culture-driven practices and operational tools for the future of work, learning, and governing. Business as commons is the theme of Samantha's TedX. As Samantha puts it, organizations can and should be a microcosm of the world we want to live in.

“If we're really going to have a future that works for all, it's going to involve figuring out how to work together better, in ways that have both the care and the productivity. I really think we need to figure this out and the listening piece is key to that.” - Samantha Slade

Valuable Resource:

Going Horizontal: Creating a Non-Hierarchical Organization, One Practice at a Time: https://www.amazon.com/Going-Horizontal-Creating-Non-Hierarchical-Organization/dp/1523095261

Listen IN Notes:

01:43 - Samantha is talking about her book, ‘Going Horizontal.’ It's a practical book of seven accessible, easy doorways of entry into functioning from a less hierarchical and more horizontal leadership mindset.

03:14 - Understanding the permission culture versus a proposal culture in organizations. It’s about starting to look at power from a perspective of abundance.

04:16 - How she started Perco Lab, a company that sets itself up as a lab to experiment with different ways of functioning.

06:01 - Highlighting what the book focuses on: living together as human beings under different contexts. How should we show up as ourselves when we navigate the different contexts of life.

06:45 - Samantha shows how to transfer what we learning from one context into another. What you practice at home can be brought outside into your workspace.

07:42 - How real paradigm shift is meant to be challenging, acknowledging that deep learning hurts and it makes one uncomfortable.

08:59 - Looking at the idea of horizontal leadership. What is the root of the idea?

10:38 - Demonstrating leadership, not of command and control. A story of believing and trusting your people.

12:08 - A possibility of adapting horizontal leadership throughout a company’s existence and being successful in it.

13:47 - How important is our capacity to listen in building a collaborative way of doing business? Samantha points to listening as a cornerstone.

15:42 – She describes a foundational protocol called ‘silent witnessing’. How silence and the quiet allows us to go into our deeper wisdom.

19:14 - Understanding the dilemma of something festering over time if someone doesn’t have the experience of being witnessed by others. How two minutes of “letting it all out” clears what might be getting in the way and let’s everyone move forward from a negative, unspoken feeling.

20:26 - Horizontal leadership being about inclusion. What is the key piece about inclusion?

23:54 - The idea of listening being circular thinking. How to get things clear by doing away with Q&A grilling and just listening to each other’s perspectives.

27:31 - Samantha explaining further that element of confused inquiry, how to go about it by not jumping to solutions; but rather trusting in the collective intelligence of those around you.

29:05 - Maybe together, we can figure this out? The collective power of everyone figuring it out together and not just one person by themselves.

30:11 – Samantha shares the loaded questions she’s been asked about her experiences and best practices. She describes the four categories of questions asked in a meeting.

34:17 - The secret magic potion: Listening and time.

35:25 - What is a future that works for everyone? It is all about a listening game; to practice and play in a fun way.

37:45 -Reinforcing the skills of care, inquiry, and curiosity that makes us human with empathy and compassion.

Key Takeaways:

“One of the things that are assumed or understood in the education world is that deep learning hurts. If it's deep learning, it shouldn't be comfortable and easy. Real paradigm-shifting is meant to be challenging.” - Samantha Slade

“It's very natural for us to show up in equivalence as human beings. But as we get into the workplace, it seems that there is a lot of confusion around that, and we set up these hierarchical structures where we have to start asking permission to do something that would be completely natural.” - Samantha Slade

“Startups, when they are small: everybody is chatting to everybody, making decisions together, being in a strong relationship together, because it is very easy to do in a smaller group. Once you pass a threshold of a certain number, you’re being invited into either functioning in a hierarchical way or a horizontal way, and people aren't aware that they've actually come across an option space, and we just go into this default way of functioning hierarchically.” - Samantha Slade

“In a moment of conflict and crisis, it wasn’t the moment to try and learn the capacity to listen well. It is something that we needed to have as a regular organizational practice so that when those moments of crisis arrive, we could deal with them in a way that still was fully horizontal and caring.” - Samantha Slade

“If I have something to say, it doesn't necessarily mean that I want to have a conversation that I want to have your words of sympathy, your commentary, offers of help...it’s not always that that’s appropriate. So sometimes if we can have a way of having everyone go around and just speak what’s alive for them and just let that hover in the center...it’s a way of having everyone feeling seen and heard, and staying in organizational efficiency.” - Samantha Slade

“Nuancing: when do we need conversation? When do we just need some silent witnessing? Being able to nuance between those two is a fundamental skill that I think we need to have in our organizations.” - Samantha Slade

“If a person begins to hear that others genuinely care about hearing their perspective, then with time, they will start sharing their perspective.” - Samantha Slade

Notes/Mentions:

• Going Horizontal: Creating a Non-Hierarchical Organization, One Practice at a Time: https://www.amazon.com/Going-Horizontal-Creating-Non-Hierarchical-Organization/dp/1523095261

Connect with Samantha Slade:

• LinkedIn
• http://www.samanthaslade.ca/
• https://twitter.com/sam5

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Now is the time to start designing effective organizations of the future.

Are you ready to design your organization to be more empowered, innovative, and productive?

What designs support organizational structures that create faster and effective decision-making processes, the kind that allows everyone the chance to speak up and be heard.

Jodie Goulden is the Founder of Orgdesignworks a company that helps organizations to design and implement more effective ways of working.

Jodie is formerly Head of Global Development & Learning at BASF with an overall 20 years of corporate experience at BASF, Lucent Technologies, and Deloitte. She had also worked in Germany, China, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, Australia, and held positions in Human Resources, Corporate Communications, and Change Consulting. She’s a Certified Organization Design Professional, a Board Member of Organisation Design Institute as well as a Board Member of Organization Design Forum.

In this episode, Jodie highlights how leadership can influence the organization in the most powerful way to bring about more effective and better decisions. She talks about how to design structures so that individuals can listen better, build effective ways of communicating and getting work done at the team level. Her ultimate goal is to support senior leaders to eventually scale up into a company-wide culture of listening. She shares one listening tool that helps teams make faster and more effective decisions that otherwise might take months.

“The clearest signal that I'm in part of a generative conversation is that at the end of the conversation, I don't even know whose idea it was. It feels like it's the product of everyone's contribution, and that the ideas have just emerged from the group. The only way I know how to create that kind of conversation is through listening.”

• Jodie Goulden

Listen IN Notes:

01:00 - Realizing the barrier that is stopping people from being good listeners

06:10 - Observations from the workplace and the need to create an organizational culture of listening

06:35 - How do you get from individual listening to organizational listening?

11:33 - Showing people the impact listening has in bringing change in the organization.

13:59 - Sharing a listening tool Jodie used to help teams come up with effective communication and faster decision-making.

16:46 - How to create a dynamic where people understand each other’s perspective and not necessarily defend their point of views

23:00 - The more senior leadership gets, the more the tendency is to make individual decisions. Jodie shares what top leadership can learn about the impact a culture of listening has on the company making smarter decisions.

26:21 - The challenge for someone introverted is how to make their voice heard. How does Jodie do a phenomenal job of getting people to listen to her without talking too much?

30:16 – Being included in a meeting with top leadership is one challenge if you want to influence the organization. How does she design a meeting that allows more voices to be heard?

32:38 - Understanding link between listening and innovation. How does generative listening foster an innovative environment in the company?

35:34 – Feedback can be a huge stress for managers and employees alike. It plays a role in the way we set up our organizations. How to listen with good intentions, with positive regard, and without judgment or criticism of the person that you're listening to?

41:24 - The challenges of engaging with diverse teams from different cultures to communicate with each other

44:12 - Ways to connect with Jodie

Key Takeaways:

“I had to learn that I don't have to solve any problem when I'm listening to someone. That being a good listener, in itself, is already a good intervention.” - Jodie Goulden

“I was thinking about how you can be listening for clues that other people are willing to change, and you can find allies. If you're really paying attention, you'll find that there's a lot of people who want to change and who are willing to make changes.” - Jodie Goulden

“There are different ways to make your point. So, if you feel more comfortable writing your ideas, rather than speaking your ideas, then you can look for ways to get your point in writing.” - Jodie Goulden

“To be able to listen with good intentions, with positive regard, and without judgment or criticism of the person that you're listening to (when giving feedback). We know that that's very important to create psychological safety, and to allow people to have a conversation that is constructive, in which they'll leave the conversation feeling good.” - Jodie Goulden

“There are a number of ways to do listening. One is by going around the room and inviting everyone to speak, rather than just letting the people who are louder to speak.” - Jodie Goulden

Connect with Jodie Goulden:

• orgdesignworks.com
• LinkedIn

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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As humans, one of our greatest longings is to be heard. Through listening, we develop a certain connection to people around us in ways only possible through human interaction. These bonds help find solutions to most of the problems facing humanity.

The thing is, there are some issues that we can’t handle by ourselves. Yet, even our own immediate family, who might be our strongest support system, may not be able to help make sense of what we are going through in some areas of life. This is when we need SomeoneTo Tell It To, a non-profit organization striving to cultivate meaningful relationships through compassionate listening and trains others to do the same. They will listen to anyone, anywhere around the world.

Michael Gingerich is passionate about fostering relationships of depth and about listening with intention to everyone he meets, both professionally and personally. He strives every day to be compassionate, gracious, generous, empathetic, and fully present wherever he is. He holds fast to a faith that teaches unconditional love, kindness, and humility. His heroes include Henri Nouwen and Fred (Mr.) Rogers. He finds the work and words of Dr. Brene Brown, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and the Dalai Lama to be foundational.

As co-founder/co-CEO Tom Kaden’s hope is to create and foster relationships with his co-workers that are deep, authentic, genuine, compassionate, and caring, helping them be their very best selves. Essentially, practicing and cultivating what the organization of Someone To Tell It To preaches: everyone has a voice, everyone matters, and that we all need someone to tell it to in our lives. He wants to serve rather than be served and listening is the most important way of putting others’ needs ahead of his own.

In this episode, Michael and Tom share their life experiences of sacred, moving, meaningful, and beautiful stories of life and death in the people they listened to. That even in the midst of life’s difficult realities, people find consolation through compassionate listening. Essentially, share a message to everyone that regardless of who you are or what has happened, the act of kindness when done in love will always go a long way. And they underscore the fact that listening as a transformative force is the solution the world faces.

“One of the things that we would like to start with people is to tell them and show them that everyone needs and we've already said it that everyone needs and wants to be heard. That is the name of our organization,it comes from a fundamental human need. And if we understand that and believe that we will begin to respect people more, will pay more attention to them, we will realize that we have more in common than we have that separates us, that we're all human.

- Michael Gingerich

Resources:

• Give the gift of compassionate listening. For your donations, click here: https://someonetotellitto.org/donate/

Listen In Notes:

02:09 - Tom’s challenging time when he needed someone to tell it to. Listening is considered one of the fundamental needs of a human being.

04:20 - The life-changing experience of having someone to tell it to. How did it form a seed that transformed other people’s lives?

07:17 - Recounting that very moment of realizing that other people also need relationships of depth and intimacy.

09:10 - How did the idea of putting a non-profit organization come about?

12:23 - How does the business model reflect the goals of the non-profit organization?

14:44 - Number of people they listened to and listening to anyone for whatever reason.

15:17 - Recounting that sacred moment and sacred relationship where their work impacted both other people’s lives and their own.

18:28 - Listening can also be in written words, not spoken

19:58 - Creating a safe space for people to listen to. How to let someone talk without fear of being judged?

22:22 - Why they send out teams in pairs to listen to something painful and profound?

26:20 - How does listening look like when working with organizations with a lot of stakeholders to take into consideration

30:04 - Creating a better work environment for everyone.

33:31 - The need to allow every side to tell their story.

36:11 - Tips you can consider when creating a safe and comfortable listening space for someone you listen to

37:48 - Talking about his upcoming book titled “In the Midst of Life.” How in our everyday life experiences, there are always things dying around us (not just life), and it is all about coming to terms with this reality.

40:51 - Looking back at some of the most sacred and meaningful listening stories that they’ve had.

45:03 - Relating one beautiful story of how their work in listening has transcended across people of all races and all religions.

48:57 - One inspiring message from listening to stories

50:45 - How you can donate to their organization. Click here: someonetotellitto.org

Key Takeaways:

“We've found over time that all of us truly do need that safe space, that safe person to whom we can tell all and who will simply be with us.” - Tom Kaden

“What we see and hear most of all, through people listening to people is that they are lonely, and disconnected. We've each felt that too in various times, and places. And to have someone who recognizes that we have found what we've needed in one another and that affirmation was, just really confirming and wonderful, as well as the desire to help other people find it too because we knew that if we were feeling that there are a lot of other people who are feeling that need, as well.” - Tom Kaden

“We never wanted our mission to be transactional in nature; we always wanted to be relational. And so relationships take time and energy and investment...We had this desire just to truly serve people who were being marginalized and forgotten, about people who were being overlooked. - Tom Kaden

“Sometimes people, when they write, are actually more open and honest than when they speak.” - Michael Gingerich

“'A surefire way to get someone to talk is to ask them a question. But don't frame your questions as a form of judgment.” - Tom Kaden

“One of the ways that we define listening is to know and to be known as we all want to be known. And we want to know others. And so if we can ask questions that draw people out and create that safety where people aren't threatened in any way, people want to divulge about the truth of their lives and the deeper things that are going on, the deeper matters of the heart.” - Michael Gingerich

“We want to help work cultures be more caring, and compassionate and kind, to be fun, and really try to foster this environment that is enjoyable, that you could work towards common goals and objectives, and work hard. But you can do it in a way where you're finding a lot of satisfaction.” - Michael Gingerich

“People don't always talk to you to hear your side of the story more often, people want to tell their own side of the story without interruption.” - Michael Gingerich

Just listen to others as you want them to listen to you.” - Michael Gingerich

“Think about how you want to be treated in conversation. We all want to be treated with dignity and respect and vow to treat that person you're listening to in the same way. “ - Michael Gingerich

Notes or Mentions:

• “In the Midst of Life” - A yet to be published book about coming to terms with the reality of life and death. Watch out for it!

• Chicken Soup for the Soul by Jack Canfield

• Fred Rogers
• Podcast interview with Raquel

Connect with Michael Gingerich and Tom Kaden:

• Someonetotellitto.org
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Each person can be unique in how they show up as a listener. Even if they are at the exact same meeting and listen to the exact same information, each person’s perspective may be different from the rest. This is normally frustrating, yet when we understand different types of listening, we can tap into the potential of cognitive diversity so that we can work smarter together.

As a leader, teacher, or even a parent, you’ll love listening to Graham share his experience to support us to listen better in more ways than we normally consider. Learn how to understand people better, so they feel respected, valued and heard, leading to higher performance in organizations and at home.

Graham Bodie​ is an internationally recognized communication scholar whose work focuses on what all organizations and individuals need to do better, LISTEN.​ ​Based on his extensive knowledge of ​how individuals and teams can more effectively communicate and build consensus​, Dr. Bodie facilitates customized workshops and delivers compelling keynote addresses for groups of all sizes.

His work has been funded by the National Science Foundation and featured in the ​Wall Street Journal​, Psychology Today, and on National Public Radio. Dr. Bodie received his B.A. and M.A. from Auburn University and his Ph.D. from Purdue University. He teaches courses in Integrated Marketing Communication​ at the University of Mississippi and dedicates substantial time to mend our frayed social fabric through his work with the non-profit Listen First Project​.

In this episode, Graham shares how listening is not one discipline, instead a broad field in diverse areas. He helps us understand ‘cognitive diversity in listening,’ recognizing it as advantageous to organizations increasing effectiveness, productivity, and team members’ motivation. He also highlights the ‘listen first mindset”’ approach focused on inclusivity in diversity, creating more understanding and better teamwork.

“When you listen well, people feel heard. And when people feel heard, they feel respected and valued. And then inside an organization, when they feel respected and valued, they stay. And they work harder, and they're more productive.”

- Graham Bodie

Valuable Resource:

The Handbook of Listening by Graham Bodie: https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Listening-Handbooks-Communication-Media-ebook

Listen IN Notes:

02:02 - Recognizing that listening is much more complex than he originally considered drew him to research listening as a behavior attitude within social support in close relationships.

06:47 - Graham sharing his thoughts on how he perceived the art of listening as happening in the field of communication. When in fact, listening is a multi-disciplinary field approached differently by various experts.

11:27 - Talking about his book called ‘Handbook of Listening’. And how Listening is not approached in just one way.

12:58 - Discussion on appreciating cognitive diversity in listening. Recognizing each individual’s different approach to listening provides a more robust and rich perspective about the information.

17:37 - Bring awareness that there are multiple ways to listen, that those different ways of listening have their strengths and challenges.

20:11 - Listening beyond eye contact. What does the power of listening translate to?

21:17 - Developing a culture of listening in an organization. This means listening first, rather than speaking first, management, and heavy hierarchy top down.

28:24 - Listening isn't an agreement. Graham explains how listening helps understand different perspectives and is the basis under which we operate, taking into consideration the role we play as parents, or as organizational leaders, teachers, or any other profession.

32:46 - Understanding goes deeper than just the content. Consider two meanings of messages, the content level meaning and the relational level meaning.

36:57 - Teaching the notion of the 80/20 rule of listening. What would meetings be like if everyone would be curious and listen to each other’s perspectives?

39:24 - How is listening affected in this time of pandemic when everyone stays home? Graham shares personal challenges of leadership inside his very own home.

42:56 - How people in our circle influence our listening behaviors, how we show up as listeners can be learned

45:08 - Unlearning old patterns and relearning new ways of listening. What’s your blueprint for listening?

48:20 - What is empathy? What is it like to have a listening approach to empathy using ‘Barefoot Listening’?

52:28 - Talking about ‘Future Listening.’ What is ‘Emerging Perspectives’ all about?

55:47 - Graham’s almost book chapter on ‘Listening to the Universe’

56:33 - Learning from how animals listen. Graham is talking about the physiology and the biology of listening within different animal species, and how humans are different and similar.

1:00:02 - Imagine spending time cultivating a listen first mindset within yourself, your family, and your organization?

Key Takeaways:

“[Listening is] about people, it's about relationships, it's about being inspired by someone or a small group of people, and then finding your voice within that relationship.” - Graham Bodie

“The goal of listening isn't an agreement. It can be, but it doesn't have to be. The goal of listening has to be understanding...at a fundamental level, listening first to understand is what we need to be operating under.”- Graham Bodie

“It’s about shedding your perspective, shedding your agenda at least for the moment, and turning to wonder and seeking to understand the ‘why.’ Not just the content, but what is underlying this person’s belief, what’s causing this person to tick in this way, and what’s leading them to the conclusion they’re coming to...if we can create something new out of your perspective and my perspective that’s beautiful. That’s what listening, at least fundamentally to me, is geared toward.” - Graham Bodie

“We’ve been taught that talking is power, that speaking is leading. If we infused societies with the flip of that, which is that listening is leading - how much more effective and efficient and productive and kind would we be as organizations, as societies, as people?”- Graham Bodie

“If you’re giving advice, you’re assuming that you understand the problem. And if you understand the problem, you're assuming you asked the questions and you really fully took the time to understand what that problem is from that person’s point of view and perspective and life experiences. The only way for me to know your life experiences is to listen to you.”- Graham Bodie

“Think about, in your life, the way in which your opinion about the importance of listening is matched with the fervor with which you seek to really cultivate it. And if there’s a mismatch there, then what can you do to really put your money, energy, or resources where your mouth is. Put your money where your ears are!”- Graham Bodie

Notes/Mentions:

• The Handbook of Listening by Graham Bodie: https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Listening-Handbooks-Communication-Media-ebook/dp/B08C5M7S8H
• Power Listening: Mastering the Most Critical Business Skill of All by Bernard T. Ferrari: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Listening-Mastering-Critical-Business/dp/1591844622
• The Universal Sense: How Hearing Shapes the Mind by Seth Horowitz: https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Sense-Hearing-Shapes-Mind/dp/1608198839
• ECHO Listening Intelligence: https://www.echolistening.com/
• William Winter Institute: https://www.winterinstitute.org/
• Listen First Project: http://www.listenfirstproject.org/

Connect with Graham Bodie:

• E:gbodie@lsu.edu
• LinkedIn

Connect with Raquel Ark:

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Do you feel heard by the organization you work for as an employee? Which companies do you feel listened to as a customer? What have you experienced to know whether your voice is being heard by politicians?

Do your employees, customers and stakeholders feel heard...or not? How can we transform 100s, even 1000s of potential critics into super promoters by listening to their needs and responding accordingly? Are you aware of the value scaling listening can bring to your organization? And how to architect scaling listening?

We know listening is essential in interpersonal communication. Yet, how can we scale listening so that we can respond to hundreds of thousands people and bring value to the organization at a larger scale?

Jim Macnamara is on a mission to spread the value and importance of listening, even more at large scale.

He is a distinguished Professor of Public Communication at the University of Technology in Sydney. Jim is internationally recognized for his research into the evaluation of public communication and for his work on organizational listening.

In this episode, Jim shares his experiences and the lessons he learned from working in communications almost his whole life. He continues to promote the value of communication and listening in different settings, specifically in the business and political setting. He also explains how technology can be a big help in communicating and listening to what your stakeholders need so that you can respond transforming organizational detractors into cheerleaders.

Enjoy listening in.

“Communications more about what arrives in the minds of people and what happens then it is about transmitting the information. Communication's got to be a two-way process.”

- Jim Macnamara

Valuable Resource:

Be sure to check out Jim’s Book: Organizational Listening: The Missing Essential in Public Communication.

Listen in Notes:

02:16 - How spending almost his whole life working in communications led him to discover the value of listening. Diving into communication-related works helped him see the mistakes made by companies when it comes to listening.

05:22 - How do you value your audience’s responses? How can you listen at large scale?

07:06 - Acknowledging their response and making use of the new technology we have- how gathering the information from audience responses is now easier to analyze through the use of technology

08:47 - How do we respond to these data? How can we apply organizational listening?

09:56 - Jim shares how analyzing these data and responding in a way that your audience feels that they are listened to can help increase your sales and turn detractors into cheerleaders of your company

14:14 - The first steps in the architecture of listening. How you can take the step in listening to your own organization.

16:51 - How training your team of call center people can create a positive impact on your customers and the customer service team. Getting good feedback because this is great for the morale of your employees.

18:01 - Internal communication is very important. Giving value to your audience’s response and training your team to listen can help improve your audience feedback and your company or organization as well

21:29 - How having proper policies for listening can lead to a better articulation and communication cycle with your customers and employees

23:59 - The issue of growth and scale in organizations and their effects on communication within the organization

26:41 - How technology nowadays can be used as a way to listen to your audience even on a wide scale. The impact of technology in listening and how it changed the way of responding to your audience’s concerns

28:48 - How can you respond to your audience in a way that you show them you are giving value to their concerns, comments, and responses? What do you do with the gathered data from the use of technology and how do you respond to those given data?

30:55 - Listening in a politician’s perspective and how they should listen to the voter’s concerns instead of persuading. How politicians construct their surveys with a fixed list of questions instead of listening to their voter’s concerns

33:25 - Communication is not a one-way transmission of information. What is the definition of true communication and how you should understand the value of it?

34:54 - Leaders should stop talking and start listening. How listening to concerns instead of constantly distributing information should be valued more by leaders

35:51 - If you don’t have communication, you don’t have society. How political leaders, especially in democratic countries, should listen and keep in touch with their citizens

39:04 - The importance of fact-checking in avoiding misinformation as a hazard in communication, especially in politics

Key Takeaways:

If you don't have communication, you just don't have society. And so that to me is very important. - Jim Macnamara

If you ask a question and don't listen to the answers, then you actually do the opposite of what you're trying to intend. - Jim Macnamara

“In simple terms, organizations need to shut up and start listening!”- Jim Macnamara

“An organization has got to believe that there is real value in listening.”- Jim Macnamara

“We’ve spent a lot of money on communication...but actually, the value of listening comes in far, far higher than the value of putting out information. Putting out information is very costly.”- Jim Macnamara

“In all listening, the first thing you do is acknowledge.”- Jim Macnamara

“So often when we say ‘communication,’ what we mean is distributing information. One way transmission of information is not communication...communication is more about what arrives in the minds of people and what happens after than it is about transmitting information. If you’re working in communication, you should be spending half of your time, half of your budget, and half of your resources on listening, and the other half on speaking and distributing information. That would be true communication.”- Jim Macnamara

“What we do often is decide what information we will send out, and we decide

what form we will send it in. We’ve already made all of those decisions, so why not stop

and ask a lot more questions, and then respond to what people need?”- Jim Macnamara

Resources Mentioned:

• AMEC Summit on Measurement of Communication - https://amecorg.com/summits/2020-programme/
• Achmea - https://www.achmea.nl/en/about-us/achmea-foundation
• Obama’s Automated Emails - https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/11/hey-i-need-to-talk-to-you-about-this-brilliant-obama-email-scheme/265725/
• Communications as Culture: Essays on Media and Society - James W. Carey: https://books.google.com/books/about/Communication_as_Culture.html?id=AcSufbsE7TwC
• Organizational Listening: The Missing Essential in Public Communication - Jim Macnamara: https://www.amazon.com/Organizational-Listening-Missing-Essential-Communication/dp/1433130521
• Beyond Post-Communication: Challenging Disinformation, Deception, and Manipulation - Jim Macnamara: https://www.peterlang.com/view/title/71209

Connect with Jim Mcnamara:

• Linkedin
• Twitter

Connect with Raquel Ark

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Imagine if you would have told your teacher that the way they just taught something was really lame? It probably would NOT be a good outcome. At a school in Austin, Texas, teachers, or as they call themselves, GUIDES would respond differently. They listen, ask questions, and let students co-create the curriculum so that they LOVE going to school. And teachers love going to work because kids love going to school. Sounds like a school of the future and they are doing it now.

Mike Yates is on a mission to transform the K-12 education experience.

He is a guide / academic coach at Alpha. He is co-founder of Guide, TedX speaker multiple times, and an education consultant.

In this episode, Mike shares stories that have inspired his mission to transform the future of education where students learn through great experiences. They are empowered by having their voice heard AND acted upon. Educational experiences are co-created using a continuous conversation between guides and students. And this is revolutionizing learning. Knowing their voice has power has created an environment where students and teachers, alike, learn from each other fostering an environment of respect even amidst differing ideas and opinions.

Enjoy Listening in!

“Because kids know that their voice has power, we're putting them in situations where they can easily voice their opinions and where we will hear, where we will actually listen to respond.” - Mike Yates

For more ideas, tools, and resources that will help you master the art of listening, subscribe to listening ALCHEMY here.

Listen notes

00:20 - An incident in school that led him to be cynical about the educational system. The constant process of frustration leading him to what is different.

03:26 - What could be in the minds of kids when they have a negative perception about school or a teacher? How does this relate to cultural differences and communication barriers?

08:09 - How does it play out when a kid feels he is a part of a process? How not to create a negative memory of the positive experience?

10:09 - Creating experiences that empower kids' abilities and talents; getting them to participate in whatever capacities they can contribute gives them the opportunity to learn through having a positive experience.

13:05 - Giving kids’ voice power and what it takes. Translating this into asking, listening, participating, and talking.

16:46 - Teaching differently takes a different mindset. Recalibrating our approach.

19:42 - What does respect look like in this environment?

20:38 - Public listening is just as important as public speaking

25:10 - The Accept or Reject exercise. Finding common ground amidst disagreement in ideas and opinions.

28:00 - Learning the difference between respecting your idea and respecting you as a person.

31:49 - Mike’s dream for Alpha's students

Key Takeaways:

“Listening is communication. When I am listening to someone, I am actually telling them something. I am actually telling them I care about them . I am telling them I care about what they are saying. “ - Mike Yates

“Students may, in those moments, feel like “nobody's here for me” because sometimes processes and procedures and sometimes cultural differences and communication barriers actually do create that for a child.” - Mike Yates

“I think that the role of the school, and hopefully we're able to do this at Alpha, is to create a shared experience between all parties....where everybody can agree that it was a good experience.” - Mike Yates

“We're actually choosing humility, so that we can create an experience where the kid walks away and says, I love coming to school. And we also say I love coming to work because my kids love coming to school.” - Mike Yates

“The way to create the experience that all parties agree is literally communication. Talking and listening. Talking and listening. And then responding.” - Mike Yates

“You don’t have to agree with everything someone is saying. But you should be able to listen to what they say, accept that they believe that and still have a productive conversation even if you disagree.” - Mike Yates

“I think public listening is just as important as public speaking.” - Mike Yates

“Public listening is what you do to understand where someone is coming from.” - Mike Yates

Connect with Mike Yates

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• www.yatesmike.com
• www.go-alpha.org

Connect with Raquel Ark

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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What can happen when three strangers from three different countries come together and listen to each other deeply? They learn to live well and become wiser.

In this episode, Raquel interviews Susanne Conrad, a learning consultant and online coach in Germany, Martin Farrell, an international facilitator and coach in England and Patricia Koster, a transformation facilitator in the Netherlands. Susanne, Martin, and Patricia met online when they joined Raquel to develop prototypes about how to integrate listening into education and training. One prototype that has been developed through this process is a program called Live Well, Die Wise. This program emerged as Patricia, Susanne and Martin listened deeply to each other about topics of transitions in life.

They offer a program called Live Well, Die Wise because they want to share the gift of deep listening in an online environment about certain tipping points in an individual's life.

Enjoy their stories about how listening deeply has led to meaningful work together.

Enjoy listening in.

Background:

The Live Well, Die Wise program emerged out of a project named “The Virtual Listening Campus”(VLC), where a team of 16 members from 6 different cultures developed prototypes focusing on evidence-based listening in education and training to catalyze a listening movement. The Virtual Listening Campus was part of a four-month program sponsored by the Presencing Institute u.lab 2x, helping teams to develop prototypes that have eco-system impact. The VLC team continues to further their work around listening in a variety of ways. For more information, please contact Raquel Ark. You can read information about Presencing Institutes’ u.lab 2x program here.

“Listening is the doorway to understanding, the bridge to connections, and the foundation of trust.”

- Raquel Ark

“Finding the courage to speak had also to do with allowing yourself to be seen and your vulnerability of being different.”

- Patricia Koster

Join the Live More, Die Wise Virtual Listening Group

To Know More Visit: https://susanneconrad.jimdofree.com/actual-offer/

Timestamps: 01:35 - How listening changed their lives and how it benefited them and their work. Susanne, Martin, and Patricia share their experiences about what made them passionate about listening.

03:25 - Listening has also unleashed the power of their voice. They talk about when they noticed the relationship between listening and speaking and how it helped them have a voice.

04:48 - They share their realizations about the underrated connection of being listened to and being seen.

11:16 - They talk about the program they developed, as they themselves listened to each other deeply.

12:18 - What is a Virtual Listening Group?

15:06 - How did they create a program through listening to each other?

19: 33 - Patricia shares a last thought on how we can find our own voice by listening and becoming wiser.

Key Takeaways: “The first experiences of this really deep listening gave me a feeling of 'I am seen as a whole human being' and that was very powerful.” - Susanne Conrad

“Finding the courage to speak had also to do with allowing yourself to be seen and your vulnerability of being different.” - Patricia Koster

“It was very simple, and it was very powerful because you would just listen to the other person. And through that listening, profound changes took place.” - Martin Farrell

“As we know, it's when you let go, that new opportunities can come. But we ferociously hold on to things, even if they are things we don't really want to hold on to.” - Martin Farrell

“We don't know how the new world will look like, but I think it's exactly this moment that we can feel strong if we realize we've done this before in life.” - Patricia Koster

Connect with Susanne Conrad

• https://susanneconrad.jimdofree.com

• +49 174 9286816

• susanne.conrad@gmx.net

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanne-conrad-8767aa93

Connect with Martin Farrell

• http://www.get2thepoint.org/about.php

• martin.farrell@get2thepoint.org

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/martingfarrell

Connect with Patricia Koster

• https://livewelldiewise.eu/
• Mobile: +31 618 841862
• Email: patricia@livewelldiewise.eu
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/patriciakoster

Connect with Raquel Ark

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

If you enjoyed today’s podcast, please leave a review on Apple Podcast here and share with the people you think might find this helpful. Thanks, so much for supporting more high-quality, effective listening beyond what we typically consider! Enjoy listening

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Listening training can improve workplace performance, creating an environment where employees feel empowered and collaboration is fostered. Dr. Guy Itzchakov is an Assistant Professor at the University of Haifa, Department of Human Services. He earned his Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2017. He did research that draws on Carl Rogers's theory focusing on how attentive and non-judgmental listening impacts speakers' emotions and cognitions. His research has been published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, and the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. In this episode, Guy shares current longitudinal research on listening training in organizations and its impact over time. He shares his insights on how listening helps teams connect, creating a bond while supporting their performance as employees, even in difficult conversations.

Guy is looking for more organizations that would like to take part in his research on listening training and would love to hear from you.

Enjoy listening in.

“You will not become a better listener just by reading or talking. It takes practice.”

- Guy Itzchakov

For more ideas, tools, and resources that will help you master the art of listening, subscribe to listening ALCHEMY here.

Timestamps:

01:03 - From an interdisciplinary background to organizational behavior. How he started researching 'Listening'

03:00 - His proudest moment about the research he did. How embarrassment turned to pride in the work that he does.

04:54 - Sharing his experience volunteering by facilitating listening circles in Israel which promotes a connection between people in the Israeli society. Guy talks about an article published "Can Holding a Stick Improve Listening in the Workplace?" which was published in the European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology.

09:17 - How did the 'listening circle' he initiated transform participants?

14:19 - Perspective taking and Competence. Taking a deeper understanding about handling a difficult conversation with customers and how listening empowers employees in the workplace

22:04 - Improving employees' sense of relatedness to the team and the impact the 'listening circle' has on employees when it comes to performing well at work

24:36 - “You will not become a better listener just by reading” Guy shares helpful thoughts on how to become an effective listener

Key Takeaways:

“Participants in the 'listening circle' experience a greater reduction in their social anxiety, they were more relaxed, they became more self-aware of their inner thoughts." - Guy Itzchakov

"What the listening circle does is first and foremost create a psychologically safe environment. When they experience this safety and intimacy, suddenly they want to share and they become aware of thoughts and perspectives which they were not aware of before." - Guy Itzchakov

"When you listen well, your own wellbeing will improve through being less anxious and you will feel that you are better at what you do." - Guy Itzchakov

"Training employees in listening empowers them." - Guy Itzchakov

"Listening circles in my view, allow people to take off some of the defensiveness and the shields that we have in our daily lives and creates a bond between people." - Guy Itzchakov

Connect with Guy Itzchakov

• LinkedIn

Connect with Raquel Ark

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

If you enjoyed today’s podcast, please leave a review on Apple Podcast here and share it with the people you think might find this helpful. Thanks, so much for supporting more high-quality, effective listening beyond what we typically consider! Enjoy listening

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Listening is one skill that is hard to practice. It goes beyond hearing the person. Truly keeping quiet, having introspection within while connecting with the other person, nurturing that curiosity to wonder, and pondering the impact you make on another are key components.

Rebecca Johns is a Personal and Professional Development Coach and Trainer. Her background includes 35 years of teaching in higher education, public education, consulting, facilitation, and coaching. She brings many gold nuggets full of wisdom and practicality that she has learned from her work with children and later in her profession with executives.

In this episode, Rebecca shares stories about her experience helping leaders “go beyond the edge”. She uses their strengths to explore the greater potential of what’s possible as a leader. She touches on the importance of listening, being present, receptive and responsive as an intuitive leader to effectively make choices from a place of deeper inner knowing that can make a big difference in other people’s lives.

Enjoy listening in.

“Listening is a skill and it takes a lot of practice. It begins with listening to ourselves.”

– Rebecca Johns

For more ideas, tools, and resources that will help you master the art of listening, subscribe to listening ALCHEMY here.

Timestamps:

00:14 – Rebecca’s career background and the different sectors she has been serving in her capacity as a certified professional coach and when she first became aware of listening and its impact.

04:42 – Rebecca giving an example of what it really means to intentionally learn how to listen and the impact on others around you.

07:39 – Training and coaching are two different things according to Rebecca. She shares the reasons people come to her for help yet how it boils down listening. She describes one exercise that will help you intentionally listen and be aware in the moment.

15:33 – Getting into the action. Rebecca takes Raquel through a breathing exercise that helps a healthy adult brain to take in information and process it so as to formulate a meaningful response.

20:28 – Breaking the barriers of imposter syndrome and learning about intuition as a leadership skill to effectively make choices from a place of deeper inner knowing.

26:54 – It is in listening that we ask good questions that are life-changing and Rebecca explains where she believes good questions come from.

29:31 – Why do people not ask questions? What is holding us back from asking questions when it’s the right thing to do?

32:17 – How structure in an organization can build trust for everyone to ask questions and share thoughts making meetings more meaningful and productive. And how the core values of family, community, relationships, and flexibility resonate into the whole idea of work-life balance.

39:47 – We are a species craving for connection – how do we truly connect with deeper meaning?

47:54 – Rebecca’s suggestion: Slow down, don’t be in a hurry to cover all the lessons at the expense of people not understanding them. Her 3 R’s of teaching are uncovered here.

50:44 – A useful and meaningful tool you can use that can make a big difference in other people’s lives.

Key Takeaways:

“I worked all the way up through high school and I would ask kids, ‘If I could tell adults anything, what would you like them to know?’ And almost without exception, these kids go,’Adults need to learn how to listen. They tell us to listen all the time, but they’ve never taught us how and they don’t listen.’” – Rebecca Johns

“I do less training and much more coaching because I want to stay and see the change happen. That’s my commitment.”- Rebecca Johns

“I think if there is a cultural norm, at least here in the US, it is that we’re busy, and we’re all stressed out. So there’s a lack of fulfillment, a lack of a sense of purpose. Which means that it’s a culture of disconnection. We have cultures where people really aren’t that connected to each other.” – Rebecca Johns

“Listening is the skill that makes the biggest difference in an environment. But most of the environments that we work in, and for some of us that we even live in, don’t support deep listening. And it takes a lot of self-awareness and a lot of willingness to try something different and to do things differently.” – Rebecca Johns

“There’s no professional development without personal development. You can’t grow as a professional without growing as a person and you can’t grow as a person without having that impact in your professional life.”- Rebecca Johns

Connect with Rebecca Johns

• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• www.rebeccajohnscoaching.com

Connect with Raquel Ark

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Niels Van Quaquebeke is an organizational psychologist based in Hamburg, Germany. He is recognized as one of the Top100 German-speaking business scholars under 40 (Handelsblatt). He is the recipient of multiple awards for his teaching and frequently featured in public media. He has a book on the psychology of leadership (currently only in German).

Often leaders are in solution-finding mode and are frustrated at the lack of engagement and follow-through. During his research on leadership, over time he discovered, “Questions are just the spark. What is needed is listening afterwards.” Niels shares research and gives examples and tips from his executive training which give insight into the power of respectful inquiry, asking questions and listening. He also looks into the future of leadership in the digital era.

Enjoy listening in.

“We started to realize one of the simplest things. Questions are just the spark. What it is listening needed afterward. If you ask the question but don’t listen, you might as well have not asked the question. Even worse, it’s almost like an insult being asked a question and not being listened to.”

– Niels Van Quaquebeke

For more ideas, tools, and resources that will help you master the art of listening, subscribe to listening ALCHEMY here.

Timestamps:

02:13 – Niels tells his story about how he started researching questions, what he discovered to be the key to questions having impact and how this led to “Respectful Inquiry”.

05:40 – Asking to reply, not to understand better understood.

07:13 – Respectful Inquiry explained

12:05 – What Niels has learned most from his research on listening: a most powerful communication technique

13:00 – Niels shares was surprises managers in executive education and a more effective alternative to providing solutions.

15:01 – Raquel and Niels discover a new word called reverse listening

16:59 – Niels’ thoughts on collective listening

17:52 – Niels talks about current experimental research on questions and listening dynamics in teams

19:09 – Common concerns executives express in executive training

20:56 – Asking questions in an alpha – environment: What big cultural change needs to happen when it comes to question-asking and listening and what can be first steps

21:43 – Can question-asking and listening be a defensive form of communication?

26:42 – Effective questioning techniques

30:10 – When Niels first really noticed the impact of listening

32:12 – A recommended feedforward tool leaders can use with their employees or at home with their partner

37:00 – The truth about leadership in this digital age

39:32 – Niels talks about his book on leadership and psychology

Key Takeaways:

“By asking questions and listening to the other party to actually satisfy them, that’s when people feel like they can really flourish at work. And that’s when they’re going to put in their best effort. And you don’t have to constantly guide and control them. After all … as a leader, you want a proactive workforce.” – Niels Van Quaquebeke

“Managers do not need to fix things for the other person, they just need to listen and help the other person with their attention so that the other one feels confident so explore for themselves. ” – Niels Van Quaquebeke

“If I actually listened to you, and provide you space for your answer, then you start to listen to yourself as well.” – Niels Van Quaquebeke

“I think once we started listening to ourselves more, we feel what parts of our answers ring true and what parts are wrong.” – Niels Van Quaquebeke

“As a leader, you shouldn’t always tell visions and have strong opinions. But there are times when you should because other people need to see what you stand for, what you want to achieve, how you want to achieve it.” – Niels Van Quaquebeke

“Listening is powerful for relationships and finding solutions.“ – Niels Van Quaquebeke

“Give a little room for open questions and the magic will happen.“ – Niels Van Quaquebeke

“It comes down to your intention. Why do you want to ask a question? Do you want to reply and control the conversation or do you ask questions because you want to understand the other party, not judge them?” – Niels Van Quaquebeke

Connect with Niels Van Quaquebeke

• LinkedIn

• Twitter

• Book: Psychologie der Führung: https://shop.zeit.de/akademie/3950/psychologie-der-fuehrung-seminar

Connect with Raquel Ark

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Are the leadership and listening skills needed in life or death situations that different than those needed for organizational agility and success? And what about leaving your legacy and having an impact beyond your immediate environment, often not really knowing the ripple effect our actions of created.

Parker Frawley is a 24+ year combat veteran and decorated officer in the United States Army. During his career, he has lead soldiers in combat situations, flown Apache helicopters and has been a strategic advisor for very senior leaders in very challenging situations. He is currently an instructor at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and the Director of National Security Studies, where he is responsible for developing strategic leaders across the military branches

Parker has led formations anywhere from 40 soldiers up to his last command position where he commanded a battalion task force in Afghanistan of about 870 soldiers and 62 aircraft. Along this leadership journey, he has also served in senior leadership positions in organizations up to around 4,000 soldiers. He has extensive experience in the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq, as well as foreign postings in Korea, Russia, Germany, and Belgium.

In this podcast, he shares challenging stories showing the interplay of leaders taking time to listen to themselves, the people & teams around them, as well as the priorities of the organization. And how this can influence your legacy without you realizing your impact on others.

He also shares stories focusing on managing up, dealing with setbacks even later in your career, and key characteristics that can help lead with agility. He also talks about what you can do to help your leadership reputation as well as help the organization prioritizes what it needs for success. At the end of the podcast, Parker shares his personal three mantras he has to help him focus on organizational success.

Parker has great tips for both junior and senior leaders, so get ready to take notes.

Also, listen to Raquel and Parker’s story of how listening has forged their friendship since childhood.

“(Leadership) required me to be listening about 70% of the time and talking or making noises come out of my mouth about 30%...If it's not critical, if it's not life or death, if it's not mission failure or success at that moment, I'm probably going to give them a couple more tools that they can put in their kit bag that can help them to solve that challenge on their own.”

- Parker Frawley

For more ideas, tools, and resources that will help you master the art of listening, subscribe to listening ALCHEMY here.

Timestamps

02:13 - Sharing challenges in listening and leadership both in the military and in the corporate setup

04:00 - How listening impacts leaders interface with both their subordinates as well as with their superiors.

06:14 -What are the qualities of agile leaders

08:18 - How to become intellectually curious as leaders

13:27 - One way of thinking amidst a diverse background

16:27 - Diversity in thought

20:23 - What is “mission command” and what does it try to accomplish

22:30 - Parker’s post as battalion commander being a huge learning curve for him in ways that people may not consider.

28:05 - Raquel’s question ‘Did something shift in Parker’s approach as a leader?’

28:22 - How to choose your battles and how to manage up

34:33 - How Parker manages to overcome challenges especially on conflicting ideas with those higher in the organizational structure.

53:27 - Why leaders taking full responsibility for mistakes prevents waste of others time in the future

56:22 - How much time does Parker spend listening versus speaking as a leader

58:33 - Parker’s personal three mantras, focused on organizational success.

01:02:05 - The Island Girl and the Military guy, Parker describing his long and successful friendship with Raquel. How they kept the friendship strong despite being two completely being different people

01:04:45- Diversity of our experience also helps us to be more open to other people's perspectives.

Key Takeaways

“When I was more junior, perhaps and less mature in the job, I did not see the similarities in leadership in the civilian world and military world. And these days, I see that much more often, I see a lot of things that intersect.” - Parker Frawley

“It requires a competent team to help those leaders navigate through these very difficult waters, and this environment and the speed of change.”- Parker Frawley

“Intellectual curiosity - it's about people who want to know things simply to know things.”- Parker Frawley

“The military is a very strictly hierarchical organization. And so the requirement is that as a leader, you're not simply listening to people, but you're actually hearing what they're saying..”- Parker Frawley

Connect with Parker Frawley

• LinkedIn

Connect with Raquel Ark

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

###### “The views expressed in this podcast are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. None of those agencies promote, support or endorse Listening Alchemy”

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Corine Jansen has been Chief Listening Officer for different organizations in the Netherlands and has experienced the value of listening. She says, "We often make the mistake that we think listening costs a lot of time. But listening is creating an encounter and that encounter is made in a few seconds."

Corine Jansen is a Certified Listening Professional and Certified Practitioner of ECHO Listening Intelligence. She is specialized in opening conversations with people who have a broad, non-directive invitation to speak. She is currently the founder and Chief Listening Officer of JoConnect, and the co-initiator of Nederland Luistert (Netherland Listens).

This is part two of the interview. Corine shares very practical ideas on how leaders and doctors can listen with impact in just a short period of time. And even better, how there were lasting effects on business outcomes. If you haven't listened to part one yet, check it out and be inspired by Corine's personal story. She shares about how listening for survival as a young person changed to listening for transformation in organizations.

Enjoy listening in.

“Listening is creating an encounter. And creating an encounter is sometimes not just holding hands or making eye contact. It's a matter of interest and respect for the person in front of you.”

– Corine Jansen

Shownotes:

00:00 – How the secondary purpose of listening of Corine made more impact

02:43 – Great advice on listening in the healthcare field

07:28 – What physicians need to know when talking to patients during appointments

11:17 – Corine tells a lovely story depicting narrative medicine and how it can be helpful to change the way we treat patients

14:59 – How narrative medicine helps in the healing

17:03 – She explains how she works with medical teams and how listening can also be fun and light

25:38 – A golden nugget of advice from Corine – “Listening in dialogue is listening more to meanings than to words.”

Key Takeaways:

“We can all experience what listening means to us and what it will bring us. It makes people feel valued and respected.” – Corine Jansen

“Don't interrupt after 12 or 18 seconds, instead let them talk for two minutes because in those two minutes you will hear much more....” – Corine Jansen

“Listening is about being there, being present for the other. It will become very difficult being present with another person if you don't want to change YOUR perspective on things.” – Corine Jansen

“Listening in dialogue is listening more to meanings than to words.” – Corine Jansen

Resources Mentioned:

• Narrative Medicine: Honoring the Stories of Illness by Rita Charon
• Look for research journals on Listening here
• What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear by Danielle Ofri

Connect with Corine Jansen

• corinejansen.com
• LinkedIn

Connect with Raquel Ark

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Can you imagine a job where all you have to do is listen? Corine Jansen has been Chief Listening Officer for different organizations in the Netherlands and this is what she did--she listened. She listened to customers, she listened to patients, she listened to doctors...she listened. And the value of listening even surprised management.

Corine Jansen is a Certified Listening Professional and Certified Practitioner of ECHO Listening Intelligence. She is specialized in opening conversations with people who have a broad, non-directive invitation to speak. She is currently the founder and Chief Listening Officer of JoConnect, and the co-initiator of Nederland Luistert (Netherland Listens).

In this episode, Corine shares her personal story about how listening for survival as a young person changed to listening for transformation in organizations. She also shares the value of listening to customer’s stories and organizations that can transform both their relationships with their customers or patients in the health care system.

“What is very powerful in the skill of listening is that you don't need to have or give advice and that you don't need to have an opinion.”

– Corine Jansen

Show notes:

00:19 – Corine talks about her listening journey – when she started to notice its impact and what she learned as a young child about listening

09:57 – The turning point when she switched from survival listening to listening that transformations

15:45 – Sharing her experience as Chief Listening Officer from the Oncology Department and what she learned listening to patients

21:02 – How patient perspectives made listening valuable

23:56 – How the hospital integrated patients’ concerns and questions for better medical treatment

25:43 – Corine’s role in bridging patients with the doctors and nurses

30:03 – The effects of listening on patients and on physicians, and how that changed the hospital’s policy

Key Takeaways:

“The only thing I was doing was attentive listening: asking questions for clarification and giving attention...and people often ask me, ‘Why did doctors allow you to do this with their patients?‘ And that was because I didn't give any advice. I didn't give any opinions. I was listening to their story. And I finished every conversation when a person said I am finished saying what I wanted to say and what I needed to share.” – Corine Jansen

“…And when he found out how powerful the listening was for him as a human being in the role of a physician, it changed the man.” – Corine Jansen

“[The hospital was able to provide] much better treatment...not [only] medical treatment but human treatment...than we could ever offer before because they [patients] shared so much and it was not in our protocol. It was not in our system to listen to these kinds of stories, so they enriched the relationship between patients and their physicians.” – Corine Jansen

Connect with Corine Jansen

• corinejansen.com
• LinkedIn

Connect with Raquel Ark

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

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Kathrin O’Sullivan is an experienced organization development consultant, facilitator, executive coach and speaker with twenty years of experience in the tech industry. She is based in Silicon Valley and works internationally. Kathrin believes that in service of creating a world where everyone can thrive, we need smart leaders who are curious, grounded, open, and passionate about what they do. In times where command and control approaches do more harm than good, effective leadership requires presence, deep listening, truth-telling, and compassionate, wise action. Despite the “always on” pressure of their daily reality, the most powerful and effective leaders cultivate time for silence and introspection in order to sharpen their intellect and access their intuition. This allows authentic and effective leadership which inspires everyone to give their best, even in times of uncertainty and constant change.

In this episode, Kathrin provides lots of insightful information on listening. As she uncovers the different levels and ways of listening, she will also reveal the power of listening with value and understanding the emotions that go with it. Furthermore, Kathrin will give us different perspectives on how listening impacts critical discussions and yields optimal results in the solution process, people engagement and key relationship building.

“We can choose to listen in different ways. When we choose consciously how we want to do that, then, we're already present.”

- Kathrin O’Sullivan

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Timestamps:

02:04 – Kathrin details how working in sales made her realize the importance of listening

03:34 – Different levels of listening that the training she attended focused on

05:05 – How listening intently with another person will lead to a meaningful discussion results to a practical solution thinking

07:00 – Defining who are you as a listener that may prevent from listening well and keeping an open mind

08:12 – Other ways of listening and how these impacts the engagement to other people

16:32 – The benefits of doing the five-minute guided breathing exercise in listening

18:12 – The critical attention a problem needs if it keeps resurfacing

20:02 – Talking about assumptions and how to take these into a different perspective

24:38 – The power of listening to the value and emotions

29:51 - Building a relationship when people feel heard and valued

31:15 – Getting to the conflict stage when not listening

32:23 – The vulnerability that requires to listen

40:19 - Using internal tools in human technology

45:58 - Kathrin’s plans in the future

Connect with Kathrin O’Sullivan

• www.kathrinosullivan.com
• LinkedIn

Connect with Raquel Ark

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

If you enjoyed today’s podcast, please leave a review on iTunes and share with the people you think might find this helpful. Thanks so much for supporting more high-quality, effective listening beyond what we typically consider! Enjoy listening!

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Oscar Trimboli is an experienced coach and mentor to senior executives. He has worked with executives at CEO and CFO level and with senior divisional and functional executives in a range of industries. He is the author of Deep Listening: Impact Beyond Words, a professional speaker and mentor, as well.

This episode focuses on listening in organizations and to customers that lead to action beyond what we typically consider. How did Microsoft miss out because of not listening? And what can young professionals do so that they are heard by the upper management? And Oscar Trimboli's quest to create 100 million deep listeners by 2030. He gives great examples to inspire you to join this quest in unexpected ways.

“From a listening perspective, good leaders probably allocate about a third of their time... externally, Great leaders do about half of their time externally to listen to the marketplace.”

- Oscar Trimboli

Get your chance for an Exclusive Virtual Listening Party

Join our Podcast Giveaway: Click Here to Join

Timestamps:

01:50 - The difference between a good listener and a great listener

03:54 - How listening can be effective in half the time while at the same time doubling your impact

05:41 - The value of multi-generational leadership to young professionals

08:24 - How the dialogue and listening can be truthful and compelling among employees and leaders in an organization

10:35 - Digging deeper into a model of listening: the context and unsaid

18:19 - Listening is action, how to make conversations as human as possible to break barriers of communication in organizations

22:09 - How not listening to customers and marketplace will cost you your business

24:50 - Discussing the five levels of listening: listen to yourself, listen to the content, listen to the context, listen to what's unsaid and listen to the meaning

32:06 - Actionable step for young start-ups: Know what problem you are solving and make use of surveys

33:19 - How to make customers an integral part of your organization's internal processes and success

Connect with Oscar Trimboli

• www.oscartrimboli.com
• LinkedIn
• Deep Listening: Impact Beyond Words

Connect with Raquel Ark

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

I want to thank my podcast team who helped me get Listening IN launched!

• Betsy Marie: An amazing visual communicator who designed a meaningful graphic design solution perfect for Listen IN betsymarie.com
• Ivo Thiemann: A talented musician who took great care in creating music that we hope inspires curiosity for this podcast.
• Cecilia Mercado: With persistence, this podcast launch expert has helped me navigate these waters while I learn the ropes

If you enjoyed today’s podcast, please leave a review on iTunes and share with the people you think might find this helpful. Thanks so much for supporting more high-quality, effective listening beyond what we typically consider! Enjoy listening!

View Details

Oscar Trimboli is an experienced coach and mentor to senior executives. He has worked with executives at CEO and CFO level and with senior divisional and functional executives in a range of industries. He is the author of Deep Listening: Impact Beyond Words, a professional speaker and mentor, as well.

This episode focuses on listening in organizations and to customers that lead to action beyond what we typically consider. How did Microsoft miss out because of not listening? And what can young professionals do so that they are heard by the upper management? And Oscar Trimboli's quest to create 100 million deep listeners by 2030. He gives great examples to inspire you to join this quest in unexpected ways.

“From a listening perspective, good leaders probably allocate about a third of their time... externally, Great leaders do about half of their time externally to listen to the marketplace.”

- Oscar Trimboli

Get your chance for an Exclusive Virtual Listening Party

Join our Podcast Giveaway: Click Here to Join

Timestamps:

00:10 - Oscar shares how his recent client listens to him and answering a simple question takes into a great conversation

05:30 - A turning point events that marked the Deep Listening to be born

12:40 - The difference between a good listener and a great listener

17:18 - How listening can be effective in half the time while at the same time doubling your impact

19:45 - The importance of multi-generational leadership to young professionals

21:45 - Between employees and leaders in an organization how dialogue and listening can be truthful and effective

23:30 - Exploring further into a listening model in terms of context and unsaid

26:05 - How can you bring meaning into a conversation in connection with listening

33:05 - How to make conversations as human as possible to break barriers of communication in an organization

35:25 - The after effect to you and your business when not listening to your customer and marketplace

38:00 - The 5 level concept of Deep Listening model and its benefits

42:26 - Actionable advice to young leaders in today’s market outlook and the value of integrating listening modality to their business

47:50 - The key role of customers in the integration processes and success in the organizations

Connect with Oscar Trimboli

• www.oscartrimboli.com
• LinkedIn
• Deep Listening: Impact Beyond Words

Connect with Raquel Ark

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com
• LinkedIn

I want to thank my podcast team who helped me get Listening IN launched!

• Betsy Marie: An amazing visual communicator who designed a meaningful graphic design solution perfect for Listen IN betsymarie.com
• Ivo Thiemann: A talented musician who took great care in creating music that we hope inspires curiosity for this podcast.
• Cecilia Mercado: With persistence, this podcast launch expert has helped me navigate these waters while I learn the ropes

If you enjoyed today’s podcast, please leave a review on iTunes and share with the people you think might find this helpful. Thanks so much for supporting more high-quality, effective listening beyond what we typically consider! Enjoy listening!

View Details

Hello listeners and listening catalyzers.

This is Raquel Ark,  and welcome to Listen IN.  Listening can be a superpower in surprising ways. Join me, and be inspired by listening researchers and professionals putting listening into practice beyond what we typically think. We share experiences partnering science and practice for ideas and resources that can help you be more effective at work and at home.

Enjoy listening in!

Get your chance for an Exclusive Virtual Listening Party

Join our Podcast Giveaway: Click Here to Join

Connect with Raquel Ark

• www.listeningalchemy.com
• Mobile: + 491732340722
• contact@listeningalchemy.com