Do you feel heard?

I just came across this article about listening and while it only scratches the surface, it presents a great question- how do you listen?
The article explores how we listen, our intention behind listening and how to improve our own listening (which ultimately trickles into successes in communication, effectiveness and relationships.) So, how do you measure up?
Do you listen to hear yourself speak, do you listen until it's your turn, do you listen to hear others or are you listening to understand?
Most of us have probably never given much thought to this idea. Like a ping pong match, we have a tendency of seeing conversations as ping- your turn, pong- my turn.
But what happens if we seek to understand the full context that our partner is sharing? My husband has a beautiful expression he often shares with my kids: seek first to understand.
How do we do that? Listen. Listen globally. Listen for more than is being shared verbally. Listen for context, listen for underlying meaning- listen to what is not being said.
This beautiful expression explains just that. If we understand our partner before taking our own turn, arguments, negotiations, plans and collaborations will not only run smoother, but they will also be more efficient, productive and everyone leaves feeling heard.
Imagine that- feeling heard. And consider how easy this tangibly delicious feeling is to be gifted to someone else.

medium.com/swlh/strategic-leadership-the-3-levels-of-listening-e3f0c27f8d014