Are you really listening?

As a coach, I often discuss the importance of listening with my clients. These clients normally want to improve their listening skills so that they hear their colleagues, improve collaboration, and create greater impact.

While in these exploratory discussions around the behavior of listening, we examine how they receive information.?How do they know they are being heard??When they feel heard, what was the audience’s involvement?

My colleague, Dan Countryman, and I considered the importance of helping others become better listeners.?We listened and heard each other and as a result created the RECEIVE model.?We are finding this model helps our clients be mindful of the behaviors and actions necessary to be a good listener.

When our clients take time to RECEIVE, they have become more powerful listeners.?There are five things that I notice when I am practicing RECEIVE:

1.?????I keep the focus on the speaker.

2.?????I play back what I heard.

3.?????I remove distractions while in the conversation.

4.?????I show interest in the speaker and topic.

5.?????I respond with empathy.

If listening is important to you and you would like ideas on how to become better, please reach out to us and we will send you a copy of the R.E.C.E.I.V.E. model.

At Optimum Impact Coaching we have created assessments, workshops and one-to-one coaching experiences that can help leaders increase their skills in these areas.??For more information contact us at optimumimpactcoaching.com or connect with our coaches: Bonnie Maitlen, Ed.D.??BCC, PCC. | Kevin Logeman, MBA, PCC ?| Roberta Fiore-Kittell, MCC ?

Author: Kevin Logeman, MBA, PCC

Co-Author: Dan Countryman