One reason this website was first set up three years ago was because of my interest in coaching. Part of coaching is active listening, asking questions, and encouraging conversations with and among others. One book I really enjoyed and took a course twice on was “Fierce Conversations” by Susan Scott. The courses were taught by two wonderful people that I think of highly and consider friends. The people are Dr. Jeff Thoren and Sally Stamp of Gifted Leaders. I cannot recommend them more to others for coaching and facilitation. They care about the people and the results.
Today, I participated in a one hour webinar from DialogueWORKS on the 9 Points of Good Dialogue. It was interesting and also a followup to what I have learned before. It is important to listen to what others say, not pre-judge, and ask authentic questions. Care about what you might learn from others. In some of the area of emotions playing a part in our conversations, he mentioned “We don’t know what we know!” and “Tone is the emotion that fills us up.” Or in our house, we would joke with the kids--“Maintain low tones!”. The fellow with me in the picture below listened and heard my need to park close to The Citadel in Halifax so I did not have to walk up a steep hill with my right knee. He was so kind to have a photo taken with me when we came back for the car.

Tags: Books