During my recent educational trip to Turku, Finland, I was listening a lot. I was also surrounded by people listening and genuinely paying attention to others on the highest level. What an excellent example of the third level of listening! To remind you- this level includes everything we can observe with our senses. At the third level of listening, we have greater access to intuition, which makes it beautiful.
As for other levels, which I wrote about last Tuesday, here are a few examples:
Level 1: We want directions, information, details… For example, when our flight is delayed, our inner thoughts are focused on the fact that we will be late or how to find alternative ways to get to our desired location. Fortunately, I didn’t have these issues this time, but I was close to it because of the short time between flights.
Level 2: We are focused on the other person, not so much on the outside world. An example is when we are in a restaurant with family members, friends, or partners. We don’t care about what is going on around us. We are empathic; we pay attention to what our company at the table is saying, how they feel, and if they are comfortable enough.
Level 3: Good example is great leaders. They listen at level 3. Everything that happens around them is vital. Is it easy? Of course it’s not, but it is crucial if leaders want to inspire, motivate and have their teams and companies at the highest level.
