Craig Groeschel

But I want to tell you about the harder part, and this is super important. Your goal isn't just asking great questions. But your goal, are you ready for this? Because I made up a phrase. Your goal is to practice what I call full contact immersive listening. full-contact immersive listening. What is that? I'll define it this way.

It's next-level engagement where you don't just hear, you absorb, and you connect mentally, emotionally, and physically. You're not just listening to what's being said, but you are fully immersed in the conversation, listening at the deepest level, connecting physically,

It's next-level engagement where you don't just hear, you absorb, and you connect mentally, emotionally, and physically. You're not just listening to what's being said, but you are fully immersed in the conversation, listening at the deepest level, connecting physically,

It's next-level engagement where you don't just hear, you absorb, and you connect mentally, emotionally, and physically. You're not just listening to what's being said, but you are fully immersed in the conversation, listening at the deepest level, connecting physically,

uh with your speaker to hear what's being said not being said and you're literally like feeling the vibe of the conversation i like the phrase full contact because like i like sports um and you're not observing but you're in the game you're fully present you're actively involved listening in the moment and what are you listening for this is important i'm gonna talk say a bunch you're listening for tone

uh with your speaker to hear what's being said not being said and you're literally like feeling the vibe of the conversation i like the phrase full contact because like i like sports um and you're not observing but you're in the game you're fully present you're actively involved listening in the moment and what are you listening for this is important i'm gonna talk say a bunch you're listening for tone

uh with your speaker to hear what's being said not being said and you're literally like feeling the vibe of the conversation i like the phrase full contact because like i like sports um and you're not observing but you're in the game you're fully present you're actively involved listening in the moment and what are you listening for this is important i'm gonna talk say a bunch you're listening for tone

You're listening for pauses. You're observing body language. You're listening for unspoken emotions. You're noticing what's being said. You're noticing what's being implied. You're even noticing what's being avoided. And you don't hear just facts, but you sense the heart behind the words that they're saying. And you're asking direct questions. You're asking clear questions.

You're listening for pauses. You're observing body language. You're listening for unspoken emotions. You're noticing what's being said. You're noticing what's being implied. You're even noticing what's being avoided. And you don't hear just facts, but you sense the heart behind the words that they're saying. And you're asking direct questions. You're asking clear questions.

You're listening for pauses. You're observing body language. You're listening for unspoken emotions. You're noticing what's being said. You're noticing what's being implied. You're even noticing what's being avoided. And you don't hear just facts, but you sense the heart behind the words that they're saying. And you're asking direct questions. You're asking clear questions.

You're asking lots of follow-up questions. And then you're reflecting back. You'll say things like, well, what I hear you saying is this, or it seems like you're saying this, and then you're gonna use body language, you're gonna lean in, you're gonna mirror what they're doing, not to be manipulative, but to genuinely connect with people on the deepest level, and you're gonna listen with empathy.

You're asking lots of follow-up questions. And then you're reflecting back. You'll say things like, well, what I hear you saying is this, or it seems like you're saying this, and then you're gonna use body language, you're gonna lean in, you're gonna mirror what they're doing, not to be manipulative, but to genuinely connect with people on the deepest level, and you're gonna listen with empathy.

You're asking lots of follow-up questions. And then you're reflecting back. You'll say things like, well, what I hear you saying is this, or it seems like you're saying this, and then you're gonna use body language, you're gonna lean in, you're gonna mirror what they're doing, not to be manipulative, but to genuinely connect with people on the deepest level, and you're gonna listen with empathy.

and you're gonna acknowledge and validate their feelings. Like that must have been difficult or that must have been very meaningful to you. And then you're listening patiently and you're not rushing the conversation. You're not trying to fix something that's wrong. You're not trying to correct them.

and you're gonna acknowledge and validate their feelings. Like that must have been difficult or that must have been very meaningful to you. And then you're listening patiently and you're not rushing the conversation. You're not trying to fix something that's wrong. You're not trying to correct them.

and you're gonna acknowledge and validate their feelings. Like that must have been difficult or that must have been very meaningful to you. And then you're listening patiently and you're not rushing the conversation. You're not trying to fix something that's wrong. You're not trying to correct them.

You're not trying to give them advice, but you're digesting fully everything in the moment, absorbing the depth and the heart of what's being communicated. And you're not just listening for information, but you're listening for understanding. I know I just said a lot, but that is full contact immersive listening.

You're not trying to give them advice, but you're digesting fully everything in the moment, absorbing the depth and the heart of what's being communicated. And you're not just listening for information, but you're listening for understanding. I know I just said a lot, but that is full contact immersive listening.

You're not trying to give them advice, but you're digesting fully everything in the moment, absorbing the depth and the heart of what's being communicated. And you're not just listening for information, but you're listening for understanding. I know I just said a lot, but that is full contact immersive listening.

And if you learn to do that, it's going to completely change the impact of your leadership because the best wisdom doesn't just come from the questions you ask, but how will you listen and how deeply you process what you hear. The challenge is this, that the longer you lead, the less natural this becomes, right?