The Radical Power
of Listening
How the AIR Framework
Can Transform Connection
How the AIR Framework
Can Transform Connection
BY DAPHNE ORTIZ
BY DAPHNE ORTIZ
n today’s
world—louder,
faster, and more
distracted than ever—listening has become a radical act. Executive coach, leadership educator, and founder of (en)Courage Coaching, Chicagoan Katie O’Malley is calling for a return to something quieter, deeper, and more human. Her message is both revolutionary and restorative: listening is the most powerful thing we can do.
The foundation of O’Malley’s approach began in childhood. It was 1992, and 11-year-old Katie was doing what many kids did in the ‘90s—chatting endlessly on the landline with her best friend. After hanging up, she was shocked to hear her mother calmly say, “You’re grounded. Two weeks. Starting tonight.”
Confused and devastated, Katie asked what she had done wrong. Her mother’s response: “You talked about your entire day—school, piano, dance class, dinner, your bedtime snack—and never once asked Jenny about hers. That’s not how we treat people in this house.”
That moment, Katie says, changed the course of her life.
I