The Power of Listening

The Power of Listening:

‘Nature hath given [us] one tongue but two ears, that we may hear from others twice as much as we speak.’ Epictetus [Ancient Greek philosopher].

Many of us merely ‘hear’ and fail to really ‘listen’. Effective listening can have a profound effect on all our interpersonal relationships at work and home.

In this session Nick Thomas brings together his expertise from the worlds of sales and coaching to help improve awareness of the importance of effective listening, and some key skills and tools to improve performance in multiple different environments.

• Understanding the power of listening in multiple different work and life contexts
• To be able adapt your level of listening and listening focus to different contexts and environments
• Understanding that effective listening is a ‘learned skill’ that you can develop

• The benefits of [really] listening
• Listening in the context of sales and client work
• Listening in workplace – effective interactions with your teams and colleagues
• Barriers to listening and how to overcome them
• Levels of listening
• Listening skills and tools
• Matching your listening focus to the context
• Listening practices

Nick offers a unique combination of skills in the UK insurance training sector – an industry sales specialist and a professional coach and trainer. Nick is an Economics graduate with over 25 years corporate insurance broking experience. He was a highly successful sales producer in the UK broking market before progressing into regional and then national sales leadership roles. As National Development Director at HSBC, Nick was one of only 40 people from a global workforce of 265,000 selected as part of the STARS programme to recognise exceptional performance. He is a highly trained consultative sales specialist, and his experience includes a secondment with a major management consultant to design a best practice sales process.

In the mid-2000s, Nick developed a chronic health condition; his journey to recovery fostered a new range of interests, and a passion for health, and performance. He studied widely, qualifying as a Master Practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), obtaining a Diploma in Life Coaching, before going on to study Corporate/Business Coaching with The Coaching Academy. Nick is also a qualified Holistic Lifestyle Coach and Advanced Exercise Coach.

In the last two years Nick has worked in a self-employed capacity in training, coaching, and consulting. He works with a specialist adviser in Insurance sector M&A (Mergers & Acquisitions), and through Nick Thomas & Associates.

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