The art of listening, deeply

In the last two days, I have applied this practice in two very different contexts. The first was with  Leadership WA alumni member by, ‘answering the call’. This means you have been recommended or introduced as a possible mentor or have had compatible experience that another is moving towards.

Rekha and Viti 

Yesterday Rekha and I applied my mentoring with co-design facilitation. One of the elements in this process is to know what questions to ask and then ‘listening deeply’ whilst she is ‘telling her story’ or providing a slice of another.  The fun side of this process is the drawing or descriptive responses that emerge and inform. The most satisfying, for both, is how those very simplistic drawings inform and bring clarity. Invariably, ‘Lightbulb moments’ for the storyteller!

Scrolling paper frame

That evening I received a call from a cousin, Kate Aspinall in New Zealand. I had sent off an email with numerous questions in relation to my manuscript. Kate responded by phoning me, which I was grateful for. The nuances of a one to one conversation can never be written, or the exploration of a topic being discussed.

‘Listening deeply’ requires going to a level that tempers the desire to interrupt or bring forth an opinion because by doing so disrupts the speaker’s fullness of what they have been asked to share or wish to say. In this case, the knowledge of Kate’s Whakapapa (Family Tree) which she has been working on for many decades. What a wonderful call it was and once again the generosity of others to validate or add to the “Semi-autobiographical tale”, I am writing is valued.

More importantly, hearing the nuances of advice provided in another's points of view, on what is right in an interracial context and what is not!

May it be a restful weekend.