Listening As Leadership — The Power Of Being With What Is

Sometimes the most powerful leadership isn’t in speaking — it’s in the stillness between words.
In this episode of Notes From Within, we explore the art of listening with your whole presence…
to others, to yourself, and to the quiet truths waiting to be heard.

Transcript

Welcome back to Notes from Within,

A space for clarity,

Presence and expansion.

A place for a slower rhythm where listening inward becomes a way to navigate outward.

Part meditation,

Part musing,

Designed for thoughtful leaders,

Seekers,

Creatives and everyone in between.

I'm Katie,

A guide and deep listener and today we're exploring a theme that sits quietly at the root of powerful leadership and honest living.

Listening as leadership and the quiet strength of simply being with what is.

So,

Apart from what I've just said and a couple of beautiful quotes that I've just found today,

Actually one I found previously and one that I just found today,

They will be my anchor for this session.

And I'll try and share some experiences around these anchors that will help you to understand what I'm trying to say when I say that listening is leadership.

Leadership is listening.

But before we do that,

Let's start with a mini grounding practice.

And so let's begin to really arrive,

Arrive in this session,

Arrive in this space for you,

But also for me as well.

So wherever you are,

Whether you're sitting,

Walking or resting,

Just try to begin to soften.

And let your body settle a little more fully into this moment.

And we can do this by bringing our awareness to the breath.

There's no need to change anything with your breath.

Just meet your breath exactly where it is.

Taking a nice deep breath in through your nose.

And breathing out through your mouth.

Feel yourself relaxing a little further into this moment.

And as you inhale,

You notice.

And as you exhale,

You soften.

And as you inhale,

You arrive.

And as you exhale,

You settle.

We'll do this one more time,

Just enjoying the movement of our breath.

Inhaling,

Noticing.

Exhaling,

Softening.

Inhaling.

Arriving.

Exhaling.

Settling.

Let this be your entrance or your doorway into listening.

A quote that I have known for a while by Ram Dass is so wise and wonderful.

And he says,

The quieter you become,

The more you can hear.

And of course,

Literally,

That is true.

But it goes much deeper than that.

Because when you go inwards and you find quiet,

You hear things for what they truly are.

Not for what your brain fills in or your experience tries to match.

But with what you actually hear.

And this is quite an important point.

And in my own leadership journey,

Or even across facilitating sessions and through my personal growth as well.

Because I would say that leadership really does overlap with many different things.

And it really kind of filters into personal life and personal growth too.

But within all of these spheres,

Listening has become one of the most transformative tools I've returned to over and over again.

A bit like returning to meditation over and over again.

There's a reason why you repeat things.

Because they work.

And when I talk about listening,

I'm not talking about performative listening.

So not the kind of listening where you're waiting to speak.

Because that's what a lot of us are doing.

We are listening with some agenda or something we want to say.

And so that stops us from hearing what's truly being said.

But I'm talking about the kind of listening that feels,

I suppose,

Like a really generous receptive pause.

And listening with your whole presence.

Your whole presence.

I also used to think that leading meant knowing what to say.

And so quite often you may find yourself saying quite a few things.

Because you feel that as a leader you need to say a lot.

And your silence may be seen as a lack of knowledge,

For example.

But now I think that leadership begins with the courage to not fill the space.

So to leave that space open.

And to really be with somebody,

Or maybe even with yourself.

And to have nothing to fix,

Nothing to control.

But just simply be.

And this actually reminds me of another quote that I found just today by Mark Nepo.

And he says,

To listen is to lean in softly,

With a willingness to be changed by what we hear.

And I love that.

With a willingness to be changed by what we hear.

So not listening because you're waiting to speak.

But being open to hearing something,

Being moved by it.

And maybe being changed by it.

So that's the kind of listening that I've really grown to trust.

Because sometimes the most strategic thing to do in a meeting,

Or in a family moment,

Or in a moment of conflict even.

Is really to pause and let something unfold without rushing to rescue it.

We often like to rescue people in situations.

And I do remember,

Probably a number of times,

But one moment in particular that sticks in my mind.

In a team meeting many years ago when someone shared something really raw and unexpected.

Which doesn't often happen outside of forums where that's being encouraged.

So it was a little bit of a surprise.

And as the leader of that team,

My instinct was to step in and to really try and manage this discomfort.

To do something about it.

But on this occasion,

Instead of doing that,

I simply waited.

And I sat with the silence and stayed with the silence.

And there was this slow feeling of the room softening.

And everybody kind of coming together as a collective.

So one person acknowledged how brave that was to speak up in that way.

Other people started adding their own voices.

And something really super honest started to emerge in the room.

Something that would never have happened if I tried to smooth things over.

If I tried to step in and fix something.

So that was a moment that I saw when listening leads.

Listening really leads.

That space in itself,

That listening space when you hold presence,

Really invites truth to come forward.

Not just in ourselves,

But also in others.

And others will bring their truth forwards.

And it's a really beautiful thing.

Because listening really begins within.

And sometimes we ask ourselves,

Or we should ask ourselves the question of,

Are we listening to our body's cues?

Are we listening to our own uncertainty or our own needs?

Is that what's driving us?

And are we listening to what is beneath the performance of being a leader?

And so this is not just mindfulness that we talk about here.

This is really self-honesty,

Self-awareness.

And when we're really honest with ourselves,

We start to lead with integrity instead of performance.

And so this week I would like to invite you to ask yourself if you're listening deeply.

And if not,

And even if you think you are,

Try to listen more deeply.

Not to try and fix,

But to simply be with and in the moment.

And think about where could listening to yourself or your colleagues,

Or even in your relationships,

Where could listening shift your next move?

You might be surprised by what's waiting for you there in those listening moments.

Maybe a new idea,

Maybe a truth that's been speaking to you for a while,

But you've been maybe shoving it under the carpet.

Imagine what is waiting for you in that listening style of leadership or listening way of being.

And so maybe one of these quotes could be your anchor today.

And maybe we'll pick Ram Dass.

The quieter you become,

The more you can hear.

It's simple and it makes a lot of sense.

So before I close off,

Let's just drop inwards again for a short moment.

So whether you're sitting,

Walking,

Or maybe you are somewhere in between.

I'm not sure what that would be.

Just start to feel your body settling and relaxing into this moment.

Allowing yourself to feel clarity as you relax further into this moment together.

And reminding yourself to simply listen to my voice right now.

Try not to overthink,

But simply listening to my voice.

And as you inhale,

You notice.

As you exhale,

You soften.

Inhaling.

Exhaling.

You settle.

And sometimes that is literally all you need.

So thank you for being here once again.

And if this episode stirred something within you,

If you had a thought or reflection.

If you disagreed with me.

If you wanted to share something,

Then I would love to hear from you,

Whatever it is.

So feel free to simply carry this reflection into your day.

And until next time,

May your rhythm soften.

May your attention deepen.

And may you find wisdom in the quiet.

I'm Katie and this is Notes From Within.