Why listening at work changes everything

Ever been in a meeting where your ideas were ignored, until someone louder or more senior repeated them and took the credit?

It’s frustrating. But it’s also deeply damaging.

When people are consistently unheard at work, trust, engagement, and innovation suffer. And when someone speaks from a place of expertise and is overlooked, it doesn’t just lower morale, it dulls the team’s sharpest edge.

Poor listening affects more than just the moment. It reduces the willingness to speak up and contributes to burnout, job dissatisfaction, turnover, and a lack of commitment.

The first step, Sensing, is similar to audio and visual reception of the stimuli. The second step, Interpreting, is equivalent to assigning meaning. The business context makes the third step, Evaluating, particularly appropriate. The final step, Responding, signifies that the message was received and understood

What is listening?

Although researchers have not arrived at a single, agreed definition of listening, most experts describe it as a dynamic, multi-layered process.

For example, in their research paper, Steil, Watson and Barker (1983) describe listening as a sequence of sensing (receiving the information), interpreting (assigning meaning), evaluating (important in a business context), and responding (showing that the message has been received and understood).

In other words, listening is not just being silent — it's being present, attuned, and responsive.

What happens when we’re really heard?

When someone genuinely listens to us at work, especially when we’re sharing what we know best, it has a deep and lasting impact. It signals something powerful: you matter here.

Here’s happens in the brain when our words are truly heard:

1. Sharper thinking

Being listened to activates the brain’s decision-making and problem-solving centre (the prefrontal cortex). It helps us think more clearly, reflect deeply and express ideas more effectively. When our voice is valued, our thinking sharpens and the team benefits from that clarity.

2. Increased openness and creativity

Genuine listening fosters psychological safety, enabling the default mode network, the part of the brain responsible for insight, reflection, and big-picture thinking, to become active. When we feel safe to speak, we’re more likely to take cognitive risks, to connect ideas, and to innovate.

3. Reduced stress, greater clarity

Empathetic listening calms our brain’s threat detector (the amygdala). This creates space for thoughtful, rational contributions, even in high-pressure environments. When our brain is calm, we think better. Teams of better thinkers remain focused under pressure and work through conflict constructively.

4. Stronger connections and deeper trust

We can sense (through our mirror neurons) when someone is genuinely present. Deep listening indicates presence. It strengthens relationships and builds the psychological safety that (high-performing) teams rely on. Listening is the relational glue that holds people and teams together.

The thinking environment: a framework for a listening-led work culture

Nancy Kline, founder of the Thinking Environment and author of Time to Think, developed a powerful model for creating the conditions where people can think, and contribute, at their best.

Key components of a listening-rich workplace, based on the Thinking Environment, include:

• Attention: listening with interest, without interrupting

• Equality: valuing every voice in the room, not just the loudest or most senior

• Ease: creating space where ideas aren’t rushed, so that deeper thinking can emerge

• Appreciation: highlighting what’s working well, not just what needs to be improved

• Encouragement: supporting others to explore the edges of their thinking

• Feelings: allowing room for emotion, knowing it’s part of clear, grounded thinking

• Incisive questions: challenging unhelpful assumptions to reveal new insights

• Place: creating a physical or virtual environment that says, “You matter here”

Each of these sends a clear message in the workplace. It says: Your thinking matters.

What listening is not

To build a culture of deep listening, we also need to challenge some common myths.

Listening is not:

• Staying silent while waiting for your turn to speak

• Nodding while distracted or multi-tasking

• Agreeing with everything just to move things along

• Listening selectively, for example, only to people with status or power

• Assuming you already know what someone’s going to say

True listening involves presence, curiosity, and a willingness to be changed by what you hear.

How to start building a listening culture at work

You don’t need to overhaul your entire workplace to start listening better. Small, consistent actions can have a big impact.

Try these:

• Acknowledge valuable contributions, especially when a co-worker adds insights or shares something new

• Encourage those who are hesitant, particularly if they’ve been overlooked or interrupted

• Ask clarifying questions to avoid assumptions and to truly understand what’s being shared

• Reflect back what you’ve heard to confirm and validate the colleague's message

• Pause before responding, especially during moments of disagreement

• Hold space without rushing, so that ideas can be fully expressed

Listening is a transformational skill and one of the most powerful ways we can build better thinking, stronger teams, and more human workplaces.

Debbie

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I work with professionals at a crossroads who are navigating change or who want to make a change.