To develop relationships and high performing teams, it’s important to listen not only with our ears, but also with our eyes, bodies, intuition, and especially our emotions. The key is to pay attention to the other “ears” of our body. As we listen, we feel and experience emotions throughout our bodies. This experience is unique for each of us. Many of us, however, do not pay attention or even notice our emotions, intuition and body experiences during a conversation. Here’s a tip to change that.
When listening, ask yourself, “What does my body feel like at this very moment as I’m listening? What emotions am I experiencing? Where in my body do I feel these emotions? What does this feeling mean? What is my intuition telling me?” You can ask yourself many of these questions following a conversation, so your inner chatter does not get in the way of your hard focus laser listening. Doing so will assist you to become a better listener, on the fly, in future conversations.
My challenge for you this week is to practice listening to your body, emotions and intuition. Remember to balance this listening skill with the one I wrote about last time: keeping the volume low on your own inner chatter. Key insights will follow from a quiet mind and our full attention.
