Listening

I chuckle at the first came that came to mind when I drew this Spirit@Work® Card. I thought the text in the book would be urging me to listen to, and do what I was told to do. (Scary thought!) And then I imagined that it would advise me to pay attention and go deeper into relationships by really listening to what people were saying to me.

These are some highlights of what the book had to say about listening:

We are experiencing a growing social ailment – a sense that we are not being heard.

and,

Unconditional and totally attentive listening – sacred listening – is a beautiful gift to the Soul of another.

and,

We serve best by listening with sacred attentiveness and then acting constructively on what we have heard.

and,

Sacred listening is open listening, it is effective listening that seeks to understand, without being defensive or manipulative.

From the poem:

Help me to be comfortable with myself and

Move out of my own life’s context

That I may hear with love and understanding.

and,

Let me listen with love.

It was interesting to experience how listening continually popped into my world over the four days and my reactions when it did. I noticed a resistance to hearing what a person was telling me if it was something (a critique) I didn’t really want to hear. When I moved past the first initial reaction I was able to consider what they were sharing and grow from it.

The most amazing moment of listening happened during a coaching practicum, while being graded and observed on my coaching skills.  While coaching I came to a moment of silence that I usually excel in. When a client suddenly goes silent after being asked a provocative question you know that you’ve touched something deep within them. It’s an amazing space to be in. For the first time (in the two and a half years that I’ve been training to become a life coach) I realized the silence I was listening to didn’t belong to the client … it was mine! That silence let me know what I needed to practice a little more with.

Listening doesn’t always happen with a spoken word.

Higher Ground Leadership Principles®, The Spirit@Work Cards®, and the Castle Principles® are registered trademarks of the Secretan Center.