Cathy Liska Listening – really listening – is a gift. For the person speaking, to know they are heard and understood is a wonderful experience. Reflect for yourself: how often have you experienced someone really listening? How did you feel when it did happen? Common responses to these questions are that it is unusual for someone to really listen and that when it happens if feels amazing – empowering and caring. 
Coaching sessions are an opportunity to have someone really listen and then go deeper and broader because the coach asks questions. Coaching is both the gift of listening and the gift of being challenged to expand thinking. The process opens eyes and doors to opportunities.
This is because coaches are trained to listen to understand their clients. This includes listening for their personal style, their learning style, their experiences, their culture, their beliefs and attitudes, and where they are at in the moment. Based on the listening, coaching questions are formulated to explore and to expand thinking.
The outcome of a coach listening on multiple levels is that the client gains clarity, awareness, and learns about themselves. This in turn leads to the client choosing how to use their learning, develop their strategies, choose their actions, and decide how to manage their own accountability.
Listening is the start of creating the positive changes desired.
