Active Listening: Hearing vs. Listening, Importance and Characteristics

Beyond Passive Listening

Within the communication skill set, listening skills emerge as a primary element in coaching.

Although most people consider themselves competent listeners, many are unaware that active listening goes far beyond simply receiving sounds or ideas.

It is essential to distinguish between hearing and active listening. Hearing is a physical act, a mere passive observation of the thoughts of others.

In contrast, active listening is an intellectual and emotional act; it involves thinking along with the other person, processing not only the words, but also the underlying feelings, ideas and thoughts that the speaker is trying to communicate.

It requires being totally focused on the message. It is a skill that must be acquired and worked on consciously.

Capital Importance in the Coaching Process

Active listening is crucial in coaching for multiple reasons:

• It improves overall communication, ensuring deeper understanding.
• It allows the coach to maintain control of the conversational situation, guiding the process effectively.
• Helps reduce arguments or misunderstandings.
• Demonstrates a genuine interest in what the coachee is saying, strengthening the relationship.
• Helps the coach to better understand the client's world, perspective and context.
• Facilitates remembering more data relevant to the progress of the process.
• In short, it makes the professional a better coach. Active listening is not passive listening, but a skill of mindfulness and awareness. Many times, we spend more time thinking about what we think or what we are going to answer than what we really hear.

Characteristics of Active Listening in Coaching

Listening in coaching processes must meet specific characteristics to be truly "active" and effective:

Modulable: it is not total passive listening. The coach directs the coachee in his or her reflections through timely questions and interventions, seeking to go deeper into specific aspects of the client's problem or experience.

Empathic: It must stimulate the production of emotional and personal information. This can only be achieved through empathy, the ability to put oneself in the other person's place, understanding and validating their feelings without judging them. It is essential to prepare oneself internally to be present and observe the client.

Floating: From a psychoanalytical sense, this quality implies avoiding a biased selection of information by the coach. It is about maintaining open and receptive attention to everything the client expresses, without prematurely filtering according to the coach's own ideas or hypotheses.

Focused and Intuitive Listening (Higher Levels)

Within active listening, we can distinguish deeper levels:

Focused Listening: here, the center of all attention is on the person speaking.

It is the highest level, where the coach's own perceptions, visions and opinions are put aside to focus 100% on the coachee.

Attention is paid not only to the verbal content, but also to the client's body postures, expressed emotions, tone of voice and pace.

Their concerns, goals, values and beliefs are listened to.

Intuitive Listening: At this level, the coach is also guided by his or her intuition, paying attention to sensations or ideas that arise and that may connect with aspects that went unnoticed at the conscious level, revealing hidden meanings.

Behaviors to Avoid

To maintain effective active listening, it is crucial to avoid certain behaviors: being distracted,