Playing with Imagination

Our brains have a right and left hemisphere. We have four quadrants responsible for significant functions. Our brains have 100 billion* nerve cells and each one of them communicates with each other by gathering and sending electrochemical signals.

Two Hemispheres + Four Lobes X 100 billion Brain Cells = Imagination.

Researchers are calling this activity our mental workspace where we play and move images. They all function together for creativity and ingenuity. Our ability to imagine and accomplish what we see fuels knowledge. 

What vision do you have for your greatest successes? If you could do anything with your life what would want to accomplish? What are you imagining for solving clients needs? What do you see in your students and their learning? 

Listen. Lead. Inspire.

* What does 1 Billion look like? If you had a billion goldfish they would need to be kept in a fish bowl the size of a football stadium. A billion seconds ago it was 1986.  A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes at the speed our government spends it.

Listening is Like ...

On the last day of our fifteen-week listening class students were asked to spontaneously share what listening is like to them.

Learning to Run a Marathon

Becoming an Athlete

Trying to Find Your Way through a Maze

Eating: It is Good and Necessary

 Putting the World on Pause

Listen. Lead. Inspire.

Listening to Ourselves

Ellen DeGeneres, Jimmy Fallon, Charlie Rose, and Oprah Winfrey are examples of good listeners.

Good listeners are easy to recognize. They draw out ideas, dreams, and feelings creating value in the speaker. Good listeners transform lives.

Good listeners listen to themselves. They are incredibly aware of the words they use to make sure a clear meaning is communicated.

It takes focus and a desire to learn about the speaker.  

Concentrate. Every word falling from the speaker's mouth is a story of their incredible life; nuggets of inspiration they are choosing to share with you.

Listen. Lead. Inspire.

How We Learn

We learn best by Thinking, Feeling, and Doing. Great knowledge is gained when they support our learning like a three-legged stool.

Learning good listening skills is uncomplicated. The effort results in workplace successes and healthy relationships where a deeper understanding of each other is valued.

Practice being present today.

               The big idea is to focus on the meaning of what is shared in the moment.

               Feels like being at a movie premiere of a greatly anticipated film.

                Remove any disruption like cell phones, pens and papers, or laptops. Stop tapping your foot, looking out a window, or picking at your nails. Lean in and make genuine eye contact.

Listen. Lead. Inspire.

To Listen

The Chinese symbol for listening is an inspiring image.

What happens when we attend to others like this?

What influence does this have when students are listened to this way, family is listened to in this manner, or clients are listened to with this kind of understanding?

Listen. Lead. Inspire.

Listen in

Good listening is learned. Being an effective listener takes practice.

An excellent training exercise is eavesdropping. Coffee shops, lunch places, and malls are superb practice fields.

Give yourself permission to observe, snoop, overhear, and listen in to the conversations and actions of those around you. Take a friend. Have fun. What did you learn about listening?

Listen. Inspire. Lead.

Being Remembered

There are five elements to effective listening: Hearing, Attending, Understanding, Responding, and Remembering. Seeing them from the speaker’s perspective clarifies successful results: Is the speaker being: Heard, Attended to, Understood, Responded to, and Remembered?

The subtlest nuance creates an outstanding listening moment. Getting out from your cubicle or desk, putting your phone on silent and out of sight, making eye contact, appreciates the speaker’s remarkable individuality.

Depending on the situation, crafting a unique listening space with different chairs, using a candle, or going for a walk tells the speaker they are significant.

Creating a listening event where the presenter feels like they are the most important person in the world values their time and changes lives.

Listen. Lead. Inspire.

I Listen Better than Most.

We think we listen better than others and others think they listen better than we do.

No one is born with more or less listening DNA or listening talent. We are influenced from birth learning positive and negative listening habits.

We can learn to be excellent listeners. These aptitudes are the foundation every effective listener practices first: Stop talking. Breathe. Lean in. Ask for clarification. Smile your genuine smile. Recognize their uniqueness. They prepare us to be mindful and present in the listening moment.

8X8 Principle. Practice one of the skills eight times a day for eight days as listening moments are presented. Add the next skill to the one you learned and practice them together eight times a day for eight days. When the skills feel natural and people experience and affirm your listening then you will have achieved great success.

Listen, Lead. Inspire.