Often in our workshops, we have avowed that motivational interviewing just as accurately might have been called motivational listening. Recently, we came across a superb and succinct video entitled The Art of Listening by author and inspirational speaker, Simon Sinek. Sinek probably is best know for his Ted Talk on Why. Some time ago, in an earlier blog, we addressed the concept of really listening and underscored the importance of learning to listen at 3 distinct levels of listening – all in service of being in full Motivational Interviewing service to our clients. In his impassioned plea for deeper listening – not just hearing and parroting words spoken by clients back to them verbatim – Sinek emphasizes listening as an art form, a skill that needs to be deliberately learned and honed. As he stresses, clients need to feel heard, to sense that we ‘get’ them, we are ‘over there’ with them in empathy. We will let Simon speak on the art of listening, inclusive of his perspective on building trust and “extreme listening”…
