Thanks for Listening: Vol. III

Dear Generous Listener,
 

As we enter July, we hope many of you will soon enjoy a well-deserved holiday. Summer is a time to slow down, recharge, and reflect. For our August newsletter, we’re researching ways to highlight the importance of turning inward and listening to ourselves. 

This month, we focus on healthy and happy family conversations. Summer often brings us together with family and friends, providing cherished moments but also potential challenges. With important elections approaching globally, dinner tables may be filled with contentious topics. It’s crucial to approach these conversations with compassion and courage, staying calm amid disagreements. 

Follow our Instagram page this month for tips on healthy holiday communication, self-regulation, and ideas for intentional, respectful dialogue. Below, you’ll find more insights and resources to help you navigate these conversations with ease. 

“The best way to open people’s minds isn’t to argue with them. It’s to listen to them.
When people feel understood, they become less defensive and more reflective– and develop less extreme, more nuanced views. Productive disagreements begin with curiosity, not persuasion.” 

– Adam Grant 

On our list for this summer’s holiday reading is a groundbreaking and insightful book published earlier this year by the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, New York Times bestseller, and author of the ‘Power of Habit’, Charles Duhigg. Titled ‘Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection’, this book combines stories, studies and guidance to explore what makes conversations work, and how we can all learn to be better communicators in life.  
 
Duhigg asserts that communication is a superpower and that the best communicators understand that whenever we speak, we’re actually participating in one of three conversations: practical (What’s this really about?), emotional (How do we feel?), and social (Who are we?). He maintains that if we don’t know what kind of conversation we’re having, we’re unlikely to connect.   
 
With storytelling that takes us from the writers’ room of The Big Bang Theory to the couches of leading marriage counselors, Duhigg shows readers how to recognize these three conversations—and teaches us the tips and skills we need to navigate them more successfully.  
 
See the title here, and follow our Generous Listening Book Club for more recommendations and discussions.   

“Any problem, big or small, within a family, always seems to start with bad communication. Someone isn’t listening.”

– Emma Thompson 

An initiative that has inspired us from the very beginning and has played a pivotal role in the dream and establishment of the Vuslat Foundation is the Peabody Award-winning project and podcast ‘On Being’, created by journalist, author, and entrepreneur Krista Tippett. An independent non-profit public life and media initiative, ‘On Being’ explores the intersection of spiritual inquiry, science, poetry, social healing and the arts, through a public radio show, podcasts, and tools for the art of living.  
 
Animated by humanity’s ancient questions, newly alive in this century, ‘On Being’ is a conversation that has been building for over two decades with wise and graceful lives. The archive features luminaries like Mary Oliver, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Desmond Tutu, with each episode offering new discoveries about the immensity of our lives.

“Courage is listening, learning, unlearning, knowing when to lead, and knowing when to let others lead.”

– Brené Brown

“Listen to heal” with Ehud Abrahamson  

“Listen to flourish together” with Vuslat Doğan Sabancı 

How well can you regulate your emotions during a challenging conversation?
Can you remain calm and collected?
 

Let us know at [email protected] 

For motivation, guidance and inspiration in tackling conversations with courage and compassion, discover resources on the Generous Listening Instagram page:

Essential Inquiries to Prepare for a Courageous Conversation

 4 Titles on Conflict Resolution