Gardener

Elder

Maker

Leadership Practices

Deep Listening

Listen at different levels to enhance decision-making and foster innovation

Table of Contents

‍Introduction

Deep listening is a transformative practice that involves fully engaging with the speaker, not just hearing their words but understanding their emotions, intentions, and context. Originating from mindfulness and communication theories, deep listening aims to create a space where individuals feel valued and understood. Imagine a leader in a meeting who sets aside their agenda to genuinely hear their team’s ideas; this creates an atmosphere of trust and innovation, fostering collaboration that leads to breakthrough solutions.

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When to use this practice

Deep listening is particularly valuable in the following situations:

Team meetings focused on idea generation;
When interviewing stakeholders with diverse perspectives;
In situations where deeper insights are necessary to make wise decisions;
To bridge gaps between different viewpoints.

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How to develop this practice

The process of deep listening is based around four levels of listening. These levels, from ‘shallowest’ to ‘deepest,’ are:

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1. Downloading

‍At this level, individuals are preoccupied with their own thoughts rather than engaging with the speaker, or they are hearing only what they already know or believe. At this most superficial level, communication fails to convey deeper meaning and prevents individuals from connecting.

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2. Cognitive Listening

‍Here, listeners focus on the factual content being presented. They might acknowledge new data but may not fully grasp its implications. Summarizing would be a good tool when probing for understanding at this level. For example: “If I have understood you correctly, we now know that [fact], [fact] and [fact].” Asking enlightening questions helps deepen understanding. “What might this mean for us? How do others consider the situation?”

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3. Emotional Listening

‍This level involves empathizing with the speaker's feelings and perspectives. The empathy guess is a good approach to probe for understanding. An example would be a manager recognizing a team member's frustration during feedback sessions by acknowledging their emotions rather than solely focusing on performance metrics. The empathy guess sounds like: “I imagine that you might have felt [feeling or emotion] when this happened?”

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4. Generative Listening

‍The deepest level of listening involves creating space for new ideas to emerge by probing for underlying needs, desires, hopes, or dreams. Leaders practicing generative listening might facilitate discussions where team members feel safe to explore innovative solutions without fear of judgment or interruption. For example: “What I hear between the lines is that you really hope for [X, Y, Z], do I hear that correctly?”

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Integrating deep listening into your team culture requires regular practice. An easy way to begin is by introducing the practice in meetings. Here are some steps that can support you to start applying deep listening in team meetings:

First, in pairs, practice the levels of listening in both directions to (re)familiarize the team with this way of communicating. If it’s helpful, break into small group discussions where individuals can practice moving through the levels of listening together.
Once understood, start meetings by setting an intention for deep listening at the beginning of the session.
Encourage participants to share their thoughts without interruption. Ask listeners to use techniques like paraphrasing or summarizing. Encourage team members to try an empathy guess or search for the underlying need or desire.
Reflect as a group on how well they engaged at each level after the discussion.

When practiced for the first time, people may be surprised how much they communicate non-verbally when they hear listeners' feedback!

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Benefits of this practice

Engaging in deep listening provides the following benefits:

Stronger relationships within teams: By making deep listening a regular practice, team members are more likely to contribute openly and collaboratively, fostering greater connection and empathy.
Enhanced creativity: Listening deeply also helps people build the habit of asking better questions, which can open up avenues for greater creativity and innovation.
More informed decision-making: Deep listening ensures that more perspectives are heard and provides a better foundation for making informed decisions.

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How to take this further

To further embed deep listening into your organizational culture:

Implement regular training sessions focused on active listening skills.
Encourage feedback loops where team members can share their experiences with listening in practice.

By prioritizing this skill, organizations can cultivate an environment where innovative ideas thrive through mutual respect and understanding.

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