By Rick Fullerton, Ph.D.
Professional Coach

Summer 2001

This article explores the dynamics of listening and offers coaches and leaders a way of enhancing your effectiveness as both a listener and a speaker. Already listening is the notion that we are predisposed to hear messages that fit our view of the world, and conversely to ignore or reject those ideas that do not fit. As you will see, the significance of this for coaching is dramatic. Let's look at how our already listening develops.

Learning is central to being human. As we live and experience the world, we each find ways to interpret and understand what's happening. These interpretations about the world collectively become what we know, and this significantly impacts what we see and hear.

Let's do a little experiment. Just look around the room where you are for a moment to see what is there. Perhaps you have a number of CDs, books, and 'stuff' you have collected. If you are like me, most of these items come with a story of what you 'know' about them - where they came from, whether you like them or not, where you would use them, who they remind you of, and so on. And if you are like me, what you know shows up as a stream of quiet conversation inside our heads - our little inner voice. As a leader and coach, it is essential to be aware of the role that this inner voice plays in shaping our listening, our choices, and our behaviour.

When dealing with people, the same dynamic takes place. We have stories and assessments about virtually everything in our world, and these form our already listening. Before going on, consider for a moment the essential role this 'already listening' plays in our day to day lives. Among other things, it provides routine and stability; it makes it possible to deal with great variety and complexity, and it saves time and energy. In a sense, our already listening is a summary of who we are in relation to our world - so it becomes part of our identity. "Oh, Gerri is the mechanic." "Lise is artistic". "Jean is French". Such statements immediately trigger already listening in us, and also define in part who Gerri, Lise and Jean are for themselves. Most importantly for us as leaders and coaches, these examples illustrate that each of us has an ongoing internal conversation, an 'already listening', that both impacts and can be used in the coaching process.

So, the first key point is to acknowledge that already listening is a factor to consider any time you are seeking to achieve a significant change in behaviour or results. Also, be aware that people may not realize or notice their inner voice and the role it plays. The voice may be so automatic that we take it for granted. And here is a big one. Many people (maybe all of us), behave as if the stories and assessments represented by our little inner voice are 'true'. Thus, a valuable service we provide as coaches and leaders is to generate new possibilities for our clients - possibilities beyond what the past suggests - so they can achieve their commitments to outstanding results.

As a leader and coach, what are the best ways to use this awareness about 'already listening'. Here are some ideas you may wish to practice:

• directly inquire about the already listening - make the already listening explicit and discussable. By exploring our already listening, we can learn to recognize how it may impact our 'automatic choices and responses'.
• in preparing for meetings or conversations, tune in to your own little voice and reflect on how it may affect your ability to listen
• when working with a new client or group, it usually helps to 'start where the client is' - which means getting clear about their 'already listening'. Since at the beginning, we have little opportunity to influence others, we will be more effective when we are able to connect with the pre-existing listening of those to whom we are speaking
• when you want a person to be able to hear an idea that is different from their current view, present it as a 'possibility to consider' rather than 'the truth'. This can lessen the tendency to reject ideas that do not fit with their already listening.

Already listening is a useful term to remind us that when we deal with people, we are not dealing with 'empty vessels'. Rather, as we meet and interact, we each bring our personal history, knowledge, biology, dreams and capabilities, assumptions and beliefs - developed over our life time. From my approach to coaching, the best access to work with people is through conversation, speaking and listening, and recognizing the little inner voice is a useful part of this.