Alignment
Connecting Through Listening
Listening is one of the most fundamental interpersonal skills, and for many of us the most challenging. How we listen affects our ability to build successful working relationships. Most active listening techniques are well-intended, but they often lack authenticity and can feel patronizing. You'll learn to approach listening differently and develop subtle techniques that feel genuine and consistently create safe and inclusive environments.
- Understand why common active listening techniques can feel patronizing
- Recognize how your own listening habits affect working relationships
- Develop subtle listening techniques that feel genuine
- Create safe and inclusive conversations consistently
- Build stronger working relationships through how you listen
Cultivating Adaptive Empathy
Empathy is widely discussed, but the key point often gets missed: each of us experiences it differently. Recognizing these differences helps us understand and connect with others. You'll learn that empathy is not something you either have or don't have. It can be refined and developed through awareness of cognitive and affective processing. You'll also see how these insights can inform effective leadership and support a positive organizational culture.
- Understand the cognitive and affective dimensions of empathy
- Recognize individual differences in how empathy is experienced and expressed
- Strengthen both emotional attunement and perspective-taking
- Adapt leadership and communication based on how others experience empathy
- Support a workplace culture where empathy is practiced every day