I have a client who is a coach and is having trouble with listening and I have been helping her improve this skill.
If you are not a coach, or know nothing about coaching, you may not understand the implications of this. So let me explain.
In my opinion, a really great coach always creates a safe space for a client to explore their own challenges/ desires/issues, and the only really effective way to do that is to listen at a really deep level.
Listening at a deep level means a person feels heard and they feel safe, which in turn allows their busy thinking mind (the inner chatterbox) about whether they are making sense, will I be misunderstood, is this just a load of rubbish I’m thinking, am I totally off the wall, are they going to interrupt me, and so on to settle down.
If a person no longer has to take any notice of the unhelpful, insecure thoughts that are passing through, then they are much more likely to be able to hear the quiet voice of their own wisdom that is offering up their right solution to whatever it is they are unsure about.
One of the things that can happen during one of these conversations is that answers will come up to age old questions suddenly out of the blue. This happened for a client just recently. We were in a coaching session and I was listening at a deep level, and we were talking about his inability to make up his mind about something, and then he suddenly had an insight as to what his purpose in life was. He had been trying to work out his purpose for a very long time, working on it, thinking about it over and over, doing exercises around it, and to no avail, and then suddenly out of nowhere, the answer popped up!
This is the beauty of listening at a deep level, and allowing the client to flow, allowing the client the space to explore, to allow the busy personal thoughts to settle and to then be able to hear the answer/guidance that is already there.
I know this might sound a bit woo-woo – guidance – but I am sure you have an experience in your life, and probably lots of them, where you just knew what to do, or what to say, or you just knew something wasn’t right about something. The key word is KNEW. And by that, I mean you knew it in your bones, in your gut, or in your heart, or in every cell of your body.
That’s what I’m talking about. That’s where the power is for you and for your clients. When you or they can hear, see or feel this, then decision making becomes much quicker, clearer, easier and more fun!
In fact, it doesn’t even feel like a decision any more because it is so easy, so clear, so just in the flow. It actually feels more like the natural next step.
And that’s why listening to someone at a deep level is so invaluable. It creates a space for a person to explore and get really clear on what their natural next step is and clears away the foggy busy thinking which means they get to save valuable time and energy, and in business that affects the bottom line.
If you are stuck and need help getting clear on something in your life right now, just drop me a line at Sheela@sheelamasand.com and we’ll set up a complimentary session for you as soon as possible.
Sheela Masand was a co-founder and working partner of a multi million Euro business for over 12 years. Having worked through the struggle of how to find clients and make money in her own business, she now specializes in helping other heart-centred service professionals to do just that, all in a very authentic, non sales-y way.
Sheela can help you to attract more clients and make more money in a fun and authentic way. Visit www.sheelamasand.com to pick up a special free gift “Top 3 Secrets to Attracting Clients without Spending a Cent”.