The Open Line

Honest conversations. Real presence. Leadership people want to follow.

↓

Unleash your listening superpower.

You hear things others miss — the tone shifts, the pauses, the meaning behind the words. People leave conversations with you feeling seen, supported, and ready to move forward.

You might chalk it up to being a natural people person, or that you’re passionate about the project or you might even say it’s just years of experience.

But don’t sell yourself short. You’ve got a natural strength that many people crave. And it’s a big part of your success to this point. What if we could turn it into your superpower?

What tacos taught me about listening

I’ll never forget the moment I discovered the strength of my natural listening abilities. This was back when I was a creative director/consultant, secretly wondering how I could pivot from that work to something else. Grasping for options, I dutifully worked with existing clients while exploring new directions and found one while eating Mexican, if you can believe it.

My biggest client had announced a week prior they were being bought out (as if I needed another sign it was time to pivot). Over tacos, we talked transition strategies. As the plates were cleared, she thanked me for the conversation.

I brushed it off, but she insisted: “No really, Jackie — no one listens like you do. Other people bring their own agendas. You help me see my own.”

Wait? What? You mean the way I listen is actually special?

And here I thought everyone came into conversations with the same level of attention.

I’m guessing your level of attention is also much higher than most.

That very afternoon, my casual curiosity about coaching turned serious.

The myth that almost kept me from coaching

But before I even took my first class, I hit an unexpected wall — the belief that to be a coach, I had to fix things. I thought I needed to know the answers.

Sports coaches know how to fix offenses. They come up with game plans. Business coaches come up with business plans. I didn’t know how to fix.

But what I learned in those coaching classes is that coaching isn’t about advice, it’s about attention…. to what others are saying, what they’re NOT saying as well.

And that’s what you’re bringing as you listen so well.

From attention to intention

Now it’s time to turn that strength into your superpower.

To listen with intention as well as attention.

And that intention is one of the big a-ha moments I got from the book Radical Listening.

The authors spend an entire chapter on the intentions we bring into conversations, events and meetings... especially on the listening aspect.

Think about tough conversations, the ones where we’re trying to persuade instead of understand.

Or when I go into coaching calls... my listening intention for those is very different than when I’m taking a continuing education course.

What would it look like to bring more intention and attention to your conversations?

The book also provides a great breakdown of various listening skills. I love how they divide them into two types of skills - internal and external. Internal ones are those we do with ourselves, externals are ones we do with others.

Here's a condensed version of the skills - I’d love to hear which one you do most often naturally and which one you’d like to explore this week!

Internal Skills: what happens inside you

• Noticing – being aware of your own reactions before they hijack the moment.
• Quietness – resisting the urge to fill space just to sound competent.
• Accepting – letting someone’s perspective exist without needing to fix it.

External skills: what happens with others

• Acknowledge – signaling “I heard you” in small, genuine ways.
• Question – asking to understand, not to steer.
• Interject – the rare, respectful interruption that helps someone hear their own insight.

Listening this way isn’t passive — it’s powerful.

You and I hear what others miss. We know connected, real, honest conversations are where trust and influence start to bloom. Now we have structure to help those conversations grow, with presence not performance.

Use this moment (yes, right this very moment) to name one conversation on this week’s calendar where you’ll share your newly sharpened listening superpower. I’d love to hear how it goes - reply to this email and I’ll help you celebrate!

To put this into practice, here are a few quiet signals to reflect on…

Quiet Signals

(Try these as journaling prompts)

• When the last time you felt truly heard? What did they do or not do that made the difference?
• Which of these intentions shows up most often in your listening: to fix, to prove, to connect, or to understand?
• How would your leadership style change if you brought more attention and intention to the way you listen?​
  ​

Signal Boosts

​

​

Hi there! I'm Jackie. I help thoughtful people turn clarity + connection into the kind of leadership others want to follow. LinkedIn Website