The Keys to Deeper and More Trusting Relationships - Matt Norman

Interesting article about "Proactive Listening", a technique to engage more deeply with others.

Through proactive listening, we can take what we currently hear and turn it into dialog bursting with information. We can consider how words may be dressed in body language and intonation revealing more. Active and engaged listening reveals deeper meaning than the words our ears are simply hearing. There are 5 levels of listening. In our professional role, we must reside in the top two levels of listening to have meaningful relationships with our co-workers, clients, and partners. Being attentive simply opens up the pathways allowing us to expand our connection to include the lower two quadrants of the Interest Areas diagram.

This is an interesting framework, and seems worth investing time to understand better.