In this webtorial, we learned about what active listening means and how to make our coachee feels that they are being listened to. There are techniques that can be applied in coaching to foster understanding, empathy, and deeper exploration of our coachee’s thoughts, feelings, and perspectives.
Active listing is closely related to maintaining presence. It is a way of showing that we are present with the coachee, fully focused on their words, emotions, and underlying meaning without making any judgment or interruptions. We did a group activity where we experienced how it felt like when we were listend to. I believe it is important to establish rapport, build trust, and create a safe and supportive environment for our coachee.
We learned that there are three levels of listening: (i) listening for the spoken, ie the words, the emotions, the body language etc to understand the coachee’s intentions, (ii) listening for the unspoken, ie what’s not being said, omitted or avoided etc to understand the coachee’s fears and insecurities, and (iii) listening in the context of the coachee, ie understand the background, environment and circumstances of our coachee. Only by listening to our coachee at all three levels and combining them, are we able to fully understand our coachee to facilitate their personal growth and development.
