Listening Beyond the Sounds

We open ourselves up to new levels of understanding and wisdom by learning how to listen in new ways.

Listening Beyond the Sounds
Give yourself completely to the act of listening. Beyond the sounds, there is something greater, a sacredness that cannot be understood through thought.
β€” Eckhart Tolle

Listening from beyond

In an interview with Hillel Glazer, CEO at Entinex, Inc., the notion of beyond the sounds came up.

I've known and worked with Hillel for over ten years. We collaborated on many projects, but it had been almost six years since we last worked together. Enough time for me to have a fresh, new perspective on who he is and what he does.

What immediately jumped out for me was his extraordinary ability to seemingly effortlessly understand and articulate the challenges a company was facing in the absence of little direct evidence otherwise.

What's even more interesting is that he oftentimes sees things that aren't working in areas that were never considered not working before!

I now wondered, how does he do that?

In The Remarkable Insight, Power, and Value of Having Many Perspectives, Hillel reveals how his fascinating early career experiences led him to have this capacity to know and listen from beyond.

I won't go into the details here but encourage you to read my introduction and interview with Hillel to hear his fascinating story.

Gaining new understanding

As so often happens for many of us on our journey, new information and experiences come together to give us a new understanding.

When I announced my interview with Hillel on Twitter, he replied with this tweet:

Dozens of people have made similar comments about my work over the past thirteen years, but each adds to my understanding of what I do.

Frankly, I had no idea what was happening and why people seemed to share their more profound wisdom with me for many years.

While I've had some appreciation for some time that listening and how I listen plays a vital role in my work, it was this quote from Eckhart Tolle that provided some new understanding and awareness:

"Give yourself completely to the act of listening. Beyond the sounds, there is something greater, a sacredness that cannot be understood through thought."

If I can describe in words what I do, I would describe it as whole body listening. This is especially true when I'm engaged in my work. When listening, I sense the energy fields in my body while I listen.

It's something I do naturally without even thinking about it. I wasn't fully aware of it until now.

Practicing new listening

Last year, when I first started doing the Space Beyond Boundaries workshops, colleague and advisor Gwen Kinsey directed my attention to giving listening increased focus in my workshops.

As a result, I started sharing more about what I knew about listening in each workshop and encouraged attendees to pay more attention to listening.

It also opened up a whole new listening and dialogue domain in the Forward Thinking Pro design portfolio.

In the upcoming new monthly workshops for 2022, I will also open each workshop focusing on listening to each other.

If you'd like to join us, the first workshop begins on January 5, 2022. I hope you will consider joining us.

I believe every workshop will bring new awareness and increase your capacity to lead and thrive in whatever circumstances and challenges you are facing.

To your forward-thinking journey & space beyond!

β€” Bill

Bill Fox has a gift for identifying, connecting with, and helping the rest of us understand the leaders of tomorrow, today. The wisdom of Bill Fox is the incredible ability to help others define their own wisdom.
β€” Marc Hanlan, LLMC Partners

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