The Art of Active Listening

Read between the lines.

There aren’t many ways I can craft this piece that don’t sound condescending asf. I can channel my most genuine Ms. Frizzle, but it’s all gonna sound ‘communication-’splainin’ to even the most humble amongst us. 

And yet, I am compelled to write about it, because active listening is one of the most powerful unique differentiators in the quiver of my personal brand. 

By leading every conversation with intense curiosity and focusing fully on the answers; by creating a safe space for genuine (and sometimes vulnerable) communication; by making the most out of understanding and empathy, I can thereby do that voodoo that I do so well. It is how I can ghostwrite like a mthrfuck’r. 

And so, at risk of sounding smug, I implore you to lean into active listening in your own line of work. It is the foundation of all pattern recognition, holistic problem-solving, and empowering all continuous cycles of self-improvement. 

Now that I have had my Mel Robbins moment, I’d like to show you what that can look like when you are having life-altering conversations. 

Like the ones my colleague Jen Griffith had to have with everybody when she woke up one day to find herself irrevocably changed, an overnight quad-amputee at the age of 36. 

I was on the edge of my active listening seat. 

This conversation profoundly changed the way I think about hard conversations—and the fear that makes us avoid them. I had to set aside everything I thought I knew about how the workplace accommodates and treats disability and her Jen’s rallying cry: Let’s just talk about it. 

And thus, a case for active listening and how it can expand your mind, make you a more compassionate and kind person, and transform the way you ‘do’ conversations.

Here’s to topics that titillate, not insinuate. 🥂