Are you thinking about your communication? Wondering why listening is important?
Let's move from the careful listener space to how it feels to be listened to. There will be questions asked to assist you to remember and then reinforce the importance of listening and the space of leadership and trust that a listening environment builds.
So, what is careful communication and why has Affectus claimed this concept?
The art of careful communication is getting yourself set to hear and understand.
What does Careful Communication mean?
Careful communication starts with understanding careful.
Careful means to be done with thought and showing attention.
What would listening, and the broader communication space, be like if we were careful in our communication? Careful communication is to engage in a communication process with thought and attention.
Careful listening
Now let’s examine careful listening.
Here is where the questions start…
- How do you feel when you are listened to?
- Then, how do you feel when you know you have been heard?
- What has been your experience of the two questions above?
- What are your emotional responses to the person who has listened and heard you? Relieved, satisfied, thankful, affirmed?
When I have been listened to and heard I am grateful:
- for the empathy that has been displayed
- the time that has been spent with me
- for the outcomes that have been generated
- the forward momentum that has been created
And I am grateful for the above, no matter what has been shared. I feel a shift and an appreciation, like my thoughts have been cared for by another. Careful communication.
Revisiting your communication
I would now encourage you to pause and think back…
Revisit when you were the speaker and rethink your communication moments.
- Were you part of a careful communication moment?
- How do you know that you were?
- What indicators were present that signaled that you were part of a careful communication moment?
- What did the listener do?
- How were they?
By thinking back and wondering about careful communication we gain insight into how we may become more effective communicators.
Leadership and careful communication
And now the link to leadership.
With over 30 plus of working in leadership and learning, I am overwhelmed by the increase in leadership acumen when an individual simply becomes a better listener.
Our leadership stakes increase when we cease being the speaker and provider of our “vast and endless wisdom” (read sarcastic face) and enter into careful communication by listening effectively. This TedTalk talks to this.
I have to remind myself when I am facilitating our leadership workshops and programs, that people want to find their own solutions. And to do that I must spend time listening and providing the environment for trust to flourish and ears and minds need to be open so hearing is present.
Think about how to create an environment where listening is done within an environment of careful communication. And now consider what are the two adjustments you will make to create an environment of careful communication? How will you work on yourself to build your careful communication?