Leadership in
Listening
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Clear methodology
Recognizable examples
Practical model
Creates awareness and self-insight
Who is this book for?
This book is especially for professional listeners, people who communicate a lot with other people. Whether you are a healthcare professional listening to your patients or a call centre employee to your customers, a politician to his constituents or an auditor to other professionals, if you read this book, you’ll realise that there is so much more to be gained from that listening connection.
As a professional listener, you already listen, a lot. You know its worth. You know too, your own limits. You sometimes think to have heard correctly, when after all, the other person meant something else entirely. Sometimes your own emotions are so strong, that it’s just difficult to listen. Or, it may be that your own agenda is blocking you from listening objectively to what is really going on. So, if you’ve discovered along the way, that listening isn’t so straightforward, this book will be the solution. It’s, therefore, not an easy book. With this book, I closely look at the causes behind our problems with listening and offer structural solutions. We delve into many and varied scientific domains, but also into more experimental, or holistic disciplines.
I wrote this book for those who wish to expand their listening skills. It provides many new insights. I listened too, to much of the science, building on from its worth, to create new value.
Seven listening levels
In my life, as well as in my work, I singularly distinguish seven sorts of distortion. For that reason, too, I describe seven levels on which you can listen. Think, for example, of the distortion created by a lack of energy. If for whatever reason you’re running low on energy, you’ll be unable to listen well to the other person. You listen, instead, much to yourself, to accommodate your lack of energy. This is the first listening level, self-focused listening. Or, what do you do when someone suddenly displays intense emotion? The distortion coming from a fear of that emotion can hinder your ability to listen, emphatically. According to the model, each of the seven types of distortion belongs to a specific listening level.
In chapter 1, I introduce the model and its seven listening levels. This is an important chapter to better understand where your obstructions lie, as regards listening. In chapters 2 through 8, you’ll learn about each of the seven listening levels in detail and what you can do to accommodate and be free of the distortion. You learn how to apply the listening levels at work and in your daily life. The chapters follow a natural order, but you may read them individually. In chapter 9, we apply the model to three different contexts; the individual level, the team level, the organisational level. My wish for you, is that through this book, you are able to more consciously switch between the seven levels. Your connection with other people will noticeably strengthen. Enjoy it.
Get to work
If you want to know more about the content of this book, or if you want to talk about how to put it into practice, come to one of our open Q&A sessions. During these interactive Q&A sessions you can introduce your case, start a dialogue and collect other people’s feed- back as a takeaway. One of the trainers of the training Leadership in Listening will lead/ host the Q&A.
