August Business Roundtable: Deep Listening: How to Hear Beyond Assumptions and Biases

Program wraps by 9 am sharp!

Deep Listening: How to Hear Beyond Assumptions and Biases

When we try to solve issues from what we think we know, we’re not creating new awareness and opportunities. Embracing a growth mindset of curiosity beyond judgment enables collaborative problem solving.

Assumptions and biases have a bad reputation currently, but not all biases and assumptions are negative—even when positive, they might not be helpful in constructive communication.

Some assumptions and biases are conscious, some are unconscious, but all are learned. What has been learned can be unlearned.

“We’ve always done it this way” is the equivalent of “I’d do it this way, so you should too.” These fixed perspectives do not allow for fresh ideas to be heard from new voices and keep individuals and organizations stuck in cycles of navigating what is through perceptions of what used to be.

Awareness is the first level of change. Once a leader becomes aware of the assumptions and biases they’ve been holding—and how these elements have been affecting how they show up in conversations—they have the opportunity to challenge their preconceived ideas and allow for greater curiosity and collaboration.

This presentation is designed to help build curiosity and collaboration in conversations by offering tools to create conscious listening and an awareness of individual intuition and presence for professionals.

Ultimately, leaders must make decisions. Of course, leaders want to make the best decision or avoid the worst decision. But there are no such things. “Best” and “worst” are judgments based on actual outcomes compared to intended outcomes. There are only decisions.

Curious listening, beyond assumptions and biases, will help uncover more information for the ultimate decision. It is possible that not everyone will agree with the final decision, yet having collaborative conversations can support crucial elements of growth and inclusion:

1. More voices will have an opportunity to be heard, and their perspectives included.

2. With more perspectives included, a more informed decision can be made.

3. By being heard, all voices will have a sense of participation in the final decision and be more engaged in acting to achieve it.

Learning Objectives:

• How professionals can notice when their assumptions and biases might be engaged—and how to hit the pause button.

• How professionals can become curious about what they don’t know in a given situation and leverage questions for collaborative communication.

• Discernment is different from judgment—how to notice something in conversation without being triggered or “glimmered” by it.

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