This week I'm talking about the bedrock of meaningful connection: LISTENING.

As a leader, you already know how important cultivating this skill is for you and your team.

But I'm going to share my perspective as I actually believe that listening is a creative act.

This quote from psychiatrist, Karl A. Menninger sums it up beautifully;

“Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force...When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand.”

There's really nothing that connects people like being listened to.

The problem is, some find it hard to "just" listen, struggling to soften enough to let in someone else's world and prefer to turn the conversation back to them at the earliest opportunity.

Sometimes we manage to remain silent but are so busy thinking about a response, it's hard to fully take in what's being said.

But done well, it reveals the treasures we seek!

2 Key Benefits of Listening Well

1) The People who Listen to us are the Ones we Move Toward. Being heard elevates you as a person and make you feel seen and supported. At a team level it acts as a social glue, giving a sense of unity and belonging so people can work effectively as one.

2) It Builds Mutual Trust & Respect. By taking the time to truly listen, you can dig deeper and find what’s under the words people are saying. They're always there, just usually kept under the surface. Collaborative art-making is one of the ways that unearths the truth. This builds trust and respect that's essential for teamwork and collaboration.

Ideas for Action 👉

Getting your team to be great listeners is a skill that can be nurtured. Here are some ways to kick start it;

• Keep them on their yellow brick road: A coach once told me to imagine someone sharing something with you being like they're walking along their own yellow brick road. If you interrupt them mid-flow, it's like you're violently dragging them off their road onto a path they didn't want to be on and it's hard for them to get back. This really stuck with me and I think if you want to get to the deeper issues, it's so important not to interrupt and to give people time to get to the end of their roads before jumping in.
  
• Use your whole body: In an Art After Dark session you'll often hear me ask people to "truly, madly, deeply, listen". That's because it's not just about listening with your ears - done well, it's a fully embodied skill. This means full eye contact, your body facing the other person, leaning in, making encouraging comments or sounds in all the right places. Your full attention is one of the most beautiful and precious gifts you can give someone and you can be sure they'll appreciate it and feel really valued as a result.
• Be a mirror: Paraphrase, summarise and mirror what you've heard...or even draw or paint it for extra impact! 😉

Listening is one of my favourite things to do as I think of it as a way to discover treasures that lie beneath!

This is why creative arts are so powerful at building authentic team connection! They help people to feel truly seen and heard in a way that is very difficult to do when it's business as usual.

Do get in touch by replying to this email if you'd like my help to build your team's listening skills. 💫

This Week's Painting🖼️

This week I painted "Window to the Soul", showing the eye contact necessary to truly listen.

As always, I encourage you to take a moment to reflect on what I've shared whilst watching this short timelapse of me painting.

Stay curious!

Louise