Crafty Listening site

Curious Responsive Assertive Focused Thoughtful YES!

The negative connotations of ‘crafty’ e.g. deviousness and manipulation, under-handedness, deception,
cunning or wiliness are countered by finer qualities such as skilfulness, dexterity, ingenuity, subtlety;
surely the very essence of rapport building?

Crafty listening is useful wherever - and with who ever - hard work or happenstance place us when we
choose to take responsibility for our contribution to the quality and process of our communication.

By actively seeking to understand where other people are ‘coming from’ and where they would like to go,
we can facilitate them to express their fears and anxieties or their hopes and disappointments so
that communication and connectedness are more likely to flow well.

And that is what, in principle and on purpose, Crafty listening helps us to do.

This is not altruistic self-denial, it is enlightened self-interest.
Enlightened because it banishes shadows, helping all parties – potentially at least - to see more clearly.

And self interest because, on the premise that ‘we are in it together’, by replacing ‘me’ with ‘we’,
we can dismantle barriers and build bridges across differences so that, together,
we can move toward a more compelling future!

Integrity is, of course, an optional extra!                                                                                
                                                                             Michael Mallows