My husband and I don’t get to our city’s symphony concerts often. To me, classical music, while lovely and quite uplifting when I’m in the mood for it, often feels a bit too formal for my tastes – a bit…
Heart Listening Challenges: Burnout & Limiting Self Perception
Powerful empathic listening is what the world most needs right now. But for those who excel in this listening style, there can be significant downsides. Maya loved her job as a residence social worker at Harper Community. She is…
Shhhh! The Quiet Surprises of Silence
“Patricia” is a brilliant colleague who will NOT stop talking. Do you know someone like this? A group of us drove with Patricia for 3 hours to an educational event, and she proceeded to carry on her 1-way “conversation” for…
Empathy – Your Time-Saving Superpower!
“Brent” is not happy. As a newly hired emergency room physician within a nationally recognized healthcare system, he has been “volun-told” to show up to a four day onsite training on “Patient-Provider Communications”, which translates in his assumption as a…
Stop Drop & Roll into Deeper Listening
A few years ago, when my daughter was in her gap year between high school and college, she and I went out to lunch. She had been accepted into the college she very much wanted to attend, and they had…
Heads Up Doc! Listening with Empathy Can Save Lives…
I am lying on a hospital bed. I’ve just woken up from the anesthesia and I’m concerned that I can’t move my left arm or leg. The nurse told me that the doctor will be in soon to speak with…
Navigating Cultural Fit with Deeper Listening: Todd’s Journey
In our rapidly evolving professional landscape, the concept of cultural “fit” takes on new dimensions. No longer is it just about aligning with the values and norms of an organization; it’s about embracing diverse perspectives and building authentic connections. The…
Listening Lessons Learned
We all know we need to be good listeners, but what does that really mean? Here’s some new ways in to our most under-rated superpower – Along with a few tips to super-charge your listening! Start here with Blake’s Story…
The Heart of Changing Minds – Deep Canvassing
First – A Story In 2019, when Donald Trump was President, a dear friend and colleague of mine, Bill Dufris, created a huge sign and stuck it on his lawn. In large letters, it asked the question “What Would Jesus…
Confirmation Bias: Tuning Out the Truth
The horse, with blinders on – filters out any unnecessary information, and for us, inconvenient information that conflicts with what we want to keep intact for ourselves. I feel like I’m doing battle with my own biases all the time…