Making Room for Listening

As a forward: just as I wrapped up this article a man in the coffee shop where I am sitting handed me a postcard with a large ear on it. You can call it coincidence, chance, I call it synchronicity. OH: the multitude of ideas for future posts abound.
 

"There's room for endless listening"

My dance teacher said this one day, one of the many insightful things he has said in the context of improvisational dance. I often find these nuggets of wisdom apply to my life as a whole. I am relatively sure that is the intent of his lessons. But that is another topic in itself.
 

There may be no I in team, but let there be ear!

Working intuitively as an improvisational dance group to create a performance in the moment is not much different than creating any project with a team. You must be flexible and open to the inevitable change that occurs on the "hot seat" or "stage." You must be willing to let go of control and at the same time maintain personal strength. The only way to do this is to listen: wholly and completely to those around you. When I am dancing, this means sensing the quality and emotion behind other dancer's gestures, posture, and breath, noticing the tangental projection of their movement and learning when to initiate and when to follow.

In the context of team-based projects: In order to move the project forward, there must be a deep sense of listening to the members of the group so that things are not communicated poorly, tasks are not misunderstood, but most of all so the group can perform not as individuals, but as a team, especially when there are things to get done and deadlines to be met. The mentality of "get 'er done" can have the ability to fragment a group without the ability of the group or the group leaders to focus on cohesion. Just as with dance, a good team-member knows when to lead and when to listen - in this way we all have the potential to be leaders as good leadership is about bringing people with you, which has nothing to do with the ego.
 

Listen up ego...

In order to make the necessary room for listening, the ego must be shrunk and kept in check for it takes up the same room where listening occurs. If the ego were a cloud that surrounded each person, by centering and shrinking this cloud, we could make room for additional listening. It may take great energy to maintain a small ego while at the same time have the strength necessary to listen deeply. But it's a fight worth fighting.

The phrase my teacher said has many levels: the term 'endless' says that this action of listening is one that can always be deepened. It also says that there are different levels or degrees of listening. The skill of listening is not static, but based on a dynamic spectrum. This is both comforting and terrifying. By shrinking my ego I leave myself exposed to the elements, I leave myself ready for people to listen to me the real me and I worry they may not like what they hear. At the same time, I feel comforted by the idea that there will always be endless room for listening, which means to me that I will never become bored; there will always be new levels of meaning to understand and no end point in growth.

Now if only there was a pin to deflate this ego, to get on the fast track, or maybe I'll just take the long road, and hopefully hear many things along the way!