Listening is the most important skill in coaching - and it takes practice to clear your mind enough to truly listen.  Here are some ideas:

• 3D Juggling 471: Listen!
  Claire writes: 'Did you know that SILENT and LISTEN contain the same letters...
  
  
• 3D Juggling 452: Grafham Water
  It made me think about some of the Action learning Sets I had facilitated recently where the presenter has been able to really hear things with the same sort of clarity in their heads because of the silence held by the set. And how reflections when we have space and quiet to really make sense of them are so much more powerful.
  
  
• 3D Juggling 397: Extreme Listening
  Listening is an interesting skill. We all have it - to some extent or another. And most of us are highly trained and skilled at one small part of listening: the CEO who listens for direction and to fix, the health professional who listens to diagnose, the lawyer who listens for evidence, the child who listens for a way to get you to say yes. And when we listen for something, we're not actually hearing what the person is saying as our listening sieve is holding the things we are listening for and letting the rest go through. Listening to understand happens at a much deeper level and is incredibly powerful.
  
  
• 3D Juggling 378: Don't Swallow It
  When we see food, we are selective in choosing whether to eat. When we see fire, we are selective whether to touch it or not. When we notice something foul smelling we might cover our nose. So how come we are less discerning when it comes to processing what we hear? In the same way that we chose not to eat bad food, what would it be like this week if you chose not to process comments which you know to be untrue and which you find hurtful?'
  
  
• 3D Juggling 286: Holding it all together
  Have you noticed that often in conversations, people are working out what to say next at the same time as listening. It sounds like that's what's happenning in this years Big Brother - if there's any listening going on at all. That's often why people choose to work with a coach or a counsellor. It's a chance to be listened to - and therefore listen to ourselves.
  
  
• 3D Juggling 45: Power Tools
  Claire writes: What do you think of those salesmen at exhibitions and in markets? The ones who make you so convinced that the electric gizmo will fix everything that you buy three! They talk until they are hoarse, selling piles of magic power tools!