Kathrin O’Sullivan: Listening in the High-stake Tech World for Effective Collaboration

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Kathrin O’Sullivan is an experienced organization development consultant, executive coach and speaker with twenty years of experience in the tech industry including Google and Oracle. She is based in Silicon Valley and works internationally.

Kathrin believes that in service of creating a world where everyone can thrive. She says we need smart leaders who are curious, grounded, open, and passionate about what they do. In times where command and control approaches do more harm than good, effective leadership requires presence, deep listening, truth telling, and compassionate, wise action. Despite the “always on” pressure of their daily reality, the most powerful and effective leaders cultivate time for silence and introspection in order to sharpen their intellect and access their intuition. This allows authentic and effective leadership which inspires everyone to give their best, even in times of uncertainty and constant change.

In this episode, Kathrin provides lots of  very insightful and practical information on listening in the tech world and in high-take environments. She also reveals the power of listening for values and understanding the emotions that go with it. Kathrin gives us different perspectives on how listening impacts critical discussions and yields optimal results in the solution process, with people engagement and in relationship building.

“We can choose to listen in different ways. When we choose consciously how we want to do that, then we’re already present.”

   – Kathrin O’Sullivan 

 

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Timestamps:

02:04 –Kathrin details how working in sales made her realize the importance of listening
 
03:34 –Different levels of listening training she experienced in the business world
 
05:05 –How listening intently to another person will lead to a meaningful discussion and results in practical solution thinking
 
07:00 –Defining who are you as a listener, what may prevent you from listening well and keeping an open mind
 
08:12 –Other ways of listening and how these impacts the engagement with other people
 
16:32 –The benefits of doing the five-minute guided breathing exercise in a meeting at Google.
 
18:12 –The critical attention a problem needs if it keeps resurfacing
 
20:02 –Talking about assumptions and how to look at these from a different perspective
 
24:38 –The power of listening to values and emotions
 
29:51 -Building a relationship where people feel heard and valued
 
31:15 –Getting to the conflict stage when not listening
 
32:23 –The vulnerability that is required to listen
 
40:19 -Using internal tools in human technology
 
45:58 -Kathrin’s plans in the future
 
 

Connect with Kathrin O’Sullivan

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Raquel Ark
Raquel Ark
I am a communicator, coach, facilitator devoted to sharing ideas, tools and resources that help you master the art of listening. Listening is the doorway to understanding, the bridge to connections and the foundation of trust.

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