Power Listening #2

The second class in this course was held on Tuesday, May 01, 2007. I am ecstatic that this is the last of my Foundation classes!!! I should have had it done a long time ago and scheduling conflicts kept on arising…so I am glad to be finishing this up…finally.

We started out talking about how we can better listen and that part of that is to be ‘curious’. Approach the session with the attitude of “I wonder…” Focusing in on why the client thinks or views the situation the way they do. Instead of taking on the thought that they ‘got it wrong’ looking or seeking out what has brought the client to the conclusion they are at.

We also talked about making the client feel safe in a session. Sometimes when we ask questions the client could become defensive. We need to give the client a choice to respond…and to not respond. We have to be careful not to push them into answering a question but allow them to explore what they want to trust us with.

Empathy. Imagining what it feels like for the client on the inside. It is important for the client to see that we, as the coach, are willing to struggle through IT with them. We may not fully understand, but we can be understanding.

I really resonated with this module. I agree that this is a powerful tool in coaching. People need to and want to talk about ‘life’. Many times people come to conclusions just by talking about it out loud. I believe it takes practice to learn how to ask ‘curious’ questions but as we listen to our clients and ask questions that lead them down the road that they are already walking…powerful listening helps us to do that.