I'm just about ready to declare that active listening is the highest priority skill for a coach to master and that it must be mastered prior to success using any other strategy. This is because I have seen and experienced innumerable instances where a coaching conversation either results in deep insight and big changes as a result of the coach's skill in using active listening or because a conversation has struggled because a coach didn't use active listening.

Active Listening Defined

Active listening is a deceptively simple skill. It's a communication technique which requires that the listener feed back what the other person has said and reflect that hearing the complete message that was expressed. Here's the biggest challenge: You can only do this if you're paying really close attention. Your mind can't wander, you can't drift into your own memories, you can't start generating solutions for the issue at hand, and you can't start mentally arguing with the speaker. You have to fully concentrate to get what it is the speaker is saying.

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