Listen In

Have you ever paid attention to the assumptions we have in our conversations with different people?  Often when we’re listening to another person tell their story, we’re listening for the things that we want to hear rather than what the other person is trying to show us at that moment. This bias blocks our listening fully to the other person.  Lori Joubert takes us on a deep dive into the art of listening and how we can listen towards a better world of understanding. In this episode, Lori talks about her idea of what good listening is, the importance of being heard by people and equally hearing them and their stories. She also speaks about what is at stake if we don’t keep moving toward a listening culture. She explains how she practices being present and also shares insights on how you can become part of the solution – how you can practice listening as a powerful tool for people to experience in life.   Lori Joubert is a dedicated coach, facilitator, trainer, and Certified Listening Professional with over 20

  Imagine software that can be used to cultivate meaningful connections online. According to Lorenz Sell, this is possible by creating a container where small groups can deeply “listen” to each other, both sync and async. 95% of people who engage in online learning are likely to drop out. In this episode, Lorenz Sell shares how it is possible to create impactful learning experiences online through deep listening in ways that may surprise you and in turn gain 100% engagement.  He shares his story when he first recognized the importance of integrating listening into small groups, and how this inspires him when he writes code. He talks about his insights on the importance and effectiveness of tracking how you listen over time, and the unique force small groups bring in engaging individuals so that they experience a deep and genuine sense of connection.  Lorenz describes his entrepreneurial journey and how deep listening has played a role. Not only has he learned a lot about himself and his internal land

  Our busy minds can get in our way with connecting to ourselves and others. Often we blame it on all of the distractions around us. Yet, have you ever paid attention to your basic physical energy level and noticed that after a good night’s sleep you feel like your battery has been charged and you feel open again to the people around you? Understanding and experiencing the difference between listening to yourself, others and the bigger picture is the secret to leading through listening. In this episode, Victor focuses on leadership in listening. He explains seven levels of listening and and how to shift between listening to yourself, others and the bigger picture. He shares examples of how to get rid of the noise we all struggle with and tap into the silence needed for visioning while being responsive to the needs of those around us. His dream is for leadership in listening to impact at a larger scale in organizations, between countries or even helping to heal our humanity. Victor Pierau is an econom

  What does listening have to do with belonging? There is currently a lot of buzz around the cost to organizations when employees do not feel belonging. Yet it’s not just buzz. There is more and more research showing that when employees feel like they belong, organizations can reap bottom-line benefits.  In this episode, Sarah describes how listening is the practice of showing people that they belong, and is a key capacity needed to activate the value-creating all the buzz. She talks about the importance of recognizing that while it is the employers’ responsibility to shape belonging experiences, work cannot be the only focus. A leader can also foster a sense of belonging when they support individuals in their team discover belonging and identity outside of work. For example, having time and resources to spend time with friends, taking a class, joining a club or volunteering.  Sarah Judd Welch is the Principal & CEO of Sharehold, an innovation consultancy that designs and fosters belonging with

  How do we open up ourselves to possibilities, new ideas, and solutions?   In this episode, Jane shares the impact of generative listening. She speaks about how her life and relationships have deepened and have become more meaningful as she has learned and practiced this type of listening. She shares stories about how listening helps others to think for themselves independently, with courage, imagination, and grace. And how this has business impact. She highlights that when we listen in a generative way, we give people the opportunity to become better speakers, better thinkers, and better presenters; we articulate our message well because we know we aren’t judged and interrupted. She describes how organizations can integrate listening to create an environment of inclusion.   Jane Adshead-Grant has a purpose, which is listening. Listening to ignite the best thinking, ideas and solutions in others. In her executive coach and facilitator roles she supports individuals and teams develop person-centric leader

Everyone has had life and work experiences that we are afraid to share with others.  Yet keeping it inside can influence how we feel and impact our behaviors at work and at home. And we may not always fully understand our experiences and our behaviors. This episode is an amazing example of how listening can be healing and transformational even when people experience atrocities that are the toughest a human being can imagine. If listening sparks resilience as it does in this story, then it can spark resilience in all of us, every day, moment by moment.   Liliane Pari Umuhoza is a Rwandan public speaker, human rights advocate, and founder of the "Women Genocide Survivors Retreat" program – a program that acts as a support system for the women survivors of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. She uses listening to create a transformative safe space for survivors to heal and improve life both psychologically and financially.  Liliane currently works for Foundation Rwanda as a project officer.    Through her

How do we listen to really know if we are speaking our truth in our daily grind? When do we know if we are using our authentic voice or if we are repeating repetitive, memorized scripts inside our own bubbles of agreement? Elissa shares stories and examples to help us become more connected to our own inner truth, both at work and at home. This helps our ability to problem solve and create new solutions so that we don’t get stuck in stress, fear, and a feeling of unsafety. She also shares her 4-step model to transform conversations from a cancel culture into a conversation culture as a way forward to truly stand up for what’s right with openness, acceptance, and love. Enjoy this conversation with Elissa. Understand listening beyond what we typically consider by listening to your body, getting curious and having a team mindset as a starting point to tough conversations. Elissa Weinzimmer is an award-winning vocal health educator, presence coach, and the founder of Voice Body Connection. After suddenly losing he

It’s hard to function from a place of care and collaboration when everyone is under pressure. The complexity of different perspectives, opinions, budgets, deliverables, and stresses create even more challenges.  In this episode, Samantha shares about horizontal leadership and how listening plays a key role, along with managing time. She shares stories about how understanding a human being’s complexities help you deal with challenges in the workspace; creating an environment with a collaborative spirit. She also underscores the importance of light protocols which create a structure where teams can work in FLOW and deepwork together. They allow productivity to happen by efficiently utilizing time with collective effort. She also gets clear on the idea that people don’t necessarily need sympathy, consolation, or commentary; oftentimes, they just want to be seen and heard.   Samantha Slade is a collective entrepreneur, author, and participatory strategist.  She believes that the social practices of togetherness a

Now is the time to start designing effective organizations of the future.  Are you ready to design your organization to be more empowered, innovative, and productive? What designs support organizational structures that create faster and effective decision-making processes, the kind that allows everyone the chance to speak up and be heard. Jodie Goulden is the Founder of Orgdesignworks a company that helps organizations to design and implement more effective ways of working. Jodie is formerly Head of Global Development & Learning at BASF with an overall 20 years of corporate experience at BASF, Lucent Technologies, and Deloitte. She had also worked in Germany, China, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, Australia, and held positions in Human Resources, Corporate Communications, and Change Consulting. She’s a Certified Organization Design Professional, a Board Member of Organisation Design Institute as well as a Board Member of Organization Design Forum.  In this episode, Jodie highlights how leadership can in

Each person can be unique in how they show up as a listener. Even if they are at the exact same meeting and listen to the exact same information, each person’s perspective may be different from the rest. This is normally frustrating, yet when we understand different types of listening, we can tap into the potential of cognitive diversity so that we can work smarter together. As a leader, teacher, or even a parent, you’ll love listening to Graham share his experience to support us to listen better in more ways than we normally consider. Learn how to understand people better, so they feel respected, valued and heard, leading to higher performance in organizations and at home.   Graham Bodie​ is an internationally recognized communication scholar whose work focuses on what all organizations and individuals need to do better, LISTEN.​ ​Based on his extensive knowledge of ​how individuals and teams can more effectively communicate and build consensus​, Dr. Bodie facilitates customized workshops and delivers compel

Do you feel heard by the organization you work for as an employee? Which companies do you feel listened to as a customer? What have you experienced to know whether your voice is being heard by politicians? Do your employees, customers and stakeholders feel heard...or not? How can we transform 100s, even 1000s of potential critics into super promoters by listening to their needs and responding accordingly? Are you aware of the value scaling listening can bring to your organization? And how to architect scaling listening? We know listening is essential in interpersonal communication. Yet, how can we scale listening so that we can respond to hundreds of thousands people and bring value to the organization at a larger scale? Jim Macnamara is on a mission to spread the value and importance of listening, even more at large scale. He is a distinguished Professor of Public Communication at the University of Technology in Sydney. Jim is internationally recognized for his research into the evaluation of public communic

Imagine if you would have told your teacher that the way they just taught something was really lame? It probably would NOT be a good outcome. At a school in Austin, Texas, teachers, or as they call themselves, GUIDES would respond differently. They listen, ask questions, and let students co-create the curriculum so that they LOVE going to school. And teachers love going to work because kids love going to school. Sounds like a school of the future and they are doing it now.   Mike Yates is on a mission to transform the K-12 education experience.    He is a guide / academic coach at Alpha. He is co-founder of Guide, TedX speaker multiple times, and an education consultant.    In this episode, Mike shares stories that have inspired his mission to transform the future of education where students learn through great experiences.  They are empowered by having their voice heard AND acted upon. Educational experiences are co-created using a continuous conversation between guides and students. And this is revolutioniz

What can happen when three strangers from three different countries come together and listen to each other deeply? They learn to live well and become wiser.  In this episode, Raquel interviews Susanne Conrad, a learning consultant and online coach in Germany, Martin Farrell, an international facilitator and coach in England and Patricia Koster, a transformation facilitator in the Netherlands. Susanne, Martin, and Patricia met online when they joined Raquel to develop prototypes about how to integrate listening into education and training. One prototype that has been developed through this process is a program called  Live Well, Die Wise. This program emerged as Patricia, Susanne and Martin listened deeply to each other about topics of transitions in life.  They offer a program called Live Well, Die Wise because they want to share the gift of deep listening in an online environment about certain tipping points in an individual's life.  Enjoy their stories about how listening deeply has led to meaningful work t

Listening training can improve workplace performance, creating an environment where employees feel empowered and collaboration is fostered.   Dr. Guy Itzchakov is an Assistant Professor at the University of Haifa, Department of Human Services. He earned his Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2017. He did research that draws on Carl Rogers's theory focusing on how attentive and non-judgmental listening impacts speakers' emotions and cognitions. His research has been published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, and the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. In this episode, Guy shares current longitudinal research on listening training in organizations and its impact over time. He shares his insights on how listening helps teams connect, creating a bond while supporting their performance as employees, even in difficult conversations. Guy is looking for more organizations that would like to take part in his research on list

Listening is one skill that is hard to practice. It goes beyond hearing the person. Truly keeping quiet, having introspection within while connecting with the other person, nurturing that curiosity to wonder, and pondering the impact you make on another are key components. Rebecca Johns is a Personal and Professional Development Coach and Trainer. Her background includes 35 years of teaching in higher education, public education, consulting, facilitation, and coaching. She brings many gold nuggets full of wisdom and practicality that she has learned from her work with children and later in her profession with executives. In this episode, Rebecca shares stories about her experience helping leaders “go beyond the edge”. She uses their strengths to explore the greater potential of what’s possible as a leader. She touches on the importance of listening, being present, receptive and responsive as an intuitive leader to effectively make choices from a place of deeper inner knowing that can make a big difference in

Niels Van Quaquebeke is an organizational psychologist based in Hamburg, Germany. He is recognized as one of the Top100 German-speaking business scholars under 40 (Handelsblatt). He is the recipient of multiple awards for his teaching and frequently featured in public media. He has a book on the psychology of leadership (currently only in German).    Often leaders are in solution-finding mode and are frustrated at the lack of engagement and follow-through. During his research on leadership, over time he discovered, “Questions are just the spark. What is needed is listening afterwards.” Niels shares research and gives examples and tips from his executive training which give insight into the power of respectful inquiry, asking questions and listening. He also looks into the future of leadership in the digital era.     Enjoy listening in.    “We started to realize one of the simplest things. Questions are just the spark. What it is listening needed afterward. If you ask the question but don’t listen, you might a

  Are the leadership and listening skills needed in life or death situations that different than those needed for organizational agility and success? And what about leaving your legacy and having an impact beyond your immediate environment, often not really knowing the ripple effect our actions of created. Parker Frawley is a 24+ year combat veteran and decorated officer in the United States Army. During his career, he has lead soldiers in combat situations, flown Apache helicopters and has been a strategic advisor for very senior leaders in very challenging situations. He is currently an instructor at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and the Director of National Security Studies, where he is responsible for developing strategic leaders across the military branches Parker has led formations anywhere from 40 soldiers up to his last command position where he commanded a battalion task force in Afghanistan of about 870 soldiers and 62 aircraft. Along this leadership journey, he has also served in s

Can you imagine a job where all you have to do is listen? Corine Jansen has been Chief Listening Officer for different organizations in the Netherlands and this is what she did--she listened. She listened to customers, she listened to patients, she listened to doctors...she listened. And the value of listening even surprised management.  Corine Jansen is a Certified Listening Professional and Certified Practitioner of ECHO Listening Intelligence.  She is specialized in opening conversations with people who have a broad, non-directive invitation to speak. She is currently the founder and Chief Listening Officer of JoConnect, and the co-initiator of Nederland Luistert (Netherland Listens). In this episode, Corine shares her personal story about how listening for survival as a young person changed to listening for transformation in organizations. She also shares the value of listening to customer’s stories and organizations that can transform both their relationships with their customers or patients in the healt

Corine Jansen has been Chief Listening Officer for different organizations in the Netherlands and has experienced the value of listening. She says, "We often make the mistake that we think listening costs a lot of time. But listening is creating an encounter and that encounter is made in a few seconds." Corine Jansen is a Certified Listening Professional and Certified Practitioner of ECHO Listening Intelligence.  She is specialized in opening conversations with people who have a broad, non-directive invitation to speak. She is currently the founder and Chief Listening Officer of JoConnect, and the co-initiator of Nederland Luistert (Netherland Listens). This is part two of the interview. Corine shares very practical ideas on how leaders and doctors can listen with impact in just a short period of time. And even better, how there were lasting effects on business outcomes. If you haven't listened to part one yet, check it out and be inspired by Corine's personal story. She shares about how listening for surviva

Kathrin O’Sullivan is an experienced organization development consultant, facilitator, executive coach and speaker with twenty years of experience in the tech industry.  She is based in Silicon Valley and works internationally.  Kathrin believes that in service of creating a world where everyone can thrive, we need smart leaders who are curious, grounded, open, and passionate about what they do. In times where command and control approaches do more harm than good, effective leadership requires presence, deep listening, truth-telling, and compassionate, wise action. Despite the “always on” pressure of their daily reality, the most powerful and effective leaders cultivate time for silence and introspection in order to sharpen their intellect and access their intuition. This allows authentic and effective leadership which inspires everyone to give their best, even in times of uncertainty and constant change.  In this episode, Kathrin provides lots of insightful information on listening.  As she uncovers the dif