Oscar Trimboli - How to Listen: Discover the Hidden Key to Better Communication

Praise for
How to Listen

When Oscar Trimboli has something to say about listening, listen. Hes the best in the world.

MICHAEL BUNGAY STANIER , bestselling author of The Coaching Habit and How to Begin

The most powerful leadership tool in my personal and professional life is the power of listeningtruly listening to create the most remarkable connection with my family, colleagues, customers, and community partners. How to Listen provides valuable insights into how we can strengthen our communication and improve our listening approach in a practical and meaningful way.

NAYSLA EDWARDS , vice president brand, charge cards, & member experience, American Express

A powerful way to reimagine leadership, this book made me realize how much more we can use listening to build high-performance workplace cultures.

ZOE HAYES , head of B2C marketing, consumer apps, & sport partnerships, AUNZ at Google

How to Listen is the missing piece in executive communications with practical and actionable tips to make us better listeners and, ultimately, better leaders. This book is a must for mastering communication skills in the twenty-first century.

JOANNA STEPHENS KRAMER , head of communications and public affairs, Johnson & Johnson MedTech

When it comes to designing a strategy, a campaign, or liberating an idea, the most overlooked step is listening. How to Listen is a timely reminder of the impact that listening has.

NICOLE TAYLOR , senior vice president and head of LEGO Agency

Exploring a potent yet overlooked leadership competency, How to Listen is a pragmatic addition to an executive library.

STEPHEN JOHNSTON , senior client partner, Korn Ferry

Oscar Trimboli amazed me by deconstructing how to listen into simple actionable concepts that help my ear see better.

MARIA DEL PILAR MARTIN-MATOS , medical director, Sanofi

An excellent book that provides practical tips and useful exercises to encourage a conscious effort to improve ones listening skills. Incredibly beneficial for leaders who work across different countries and cultures where there is a need to decode whats unspoken.

STEPHANE ASSELIN , chief executive, Asia, Aurecon

For a leader and executive, what is the cost of not listening? Trimboli brings to life the opportunity of listening with real stories that resonate alongside pragmatic insights and techniques to practice key skills. Learning how to listen has made the biggest impact on my team, organization, and career.

KERRI-ANNE LORING , executive general manager, business service, Downer

How to Listen creates a pragmatic, professional, and powerful framework to hear what matters before its too late and very expensive. If you care about ROI , listening is your secret weapon.

OSCAR LEDEZMA , global corporate development & M&A , The Clorox Company

I will return to How to Listen regularly, as I seek to improve and build upon my ability to truly listen. Give yourself the time to internalize Trimbolis valuable insights and the space to practice the helpful exercises and examples. A valuable resource for anyone looking to be a better listener.

SUSAN MCMAHON , CEO , TED xSydney

Finally a book that combines the art and science of listening in the workplace. It quickly helped me discover my listening barriers, and Im now a better leader for my team and customers.

MARC MONDAY , vice president, global strategic partnerships, Sage

How to Listen is the missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle of corporate communication. You can apply its potent and practical techniques immediately whether with the media, investors, or executive teams.

SUSANNAH CLARK , senior vice president, communications, Farfetch

For board directors, listening is perhaps the most essential skill. No matter how good your listening skills areand reading How to Listen will make you realize that your listening skills arent necessarily as good as you like to thinkTrimbolis insights and practical advice will take your listening to the next level.

JENNIFER LANG , independent non-executive director and actuary

As a brand owner, listeningto your shoppers, your customers, your associates, and yourselfis critical for your future growth. Trimboli teaches you how to listen and most importantly how to act on these insights. Transformational!

GINA HEAD , brand director, Mars

By far, the best speakers are the best listeners. The definitive book on how to actually improve your listening, How to Listen is a fantastic resource to become a more effective leader. Trimboli breaks down what it takes to listen well, learn well, understand better, and empathize more. All critical skills at work and home.

JON YEO , head of curation, TED xMelbourne

Based on deep research, How to Listen is the lesson we all wish we had in school. Trimboli breaks down the process and allows you to digest it easily. This book could make you a better version of yourself. Buy one, and gift one.

JANE HUXLEY , chief executive officer, ARE Media

Becoming a great leader is not about you, its about them. Only when you know how to truly listen to them do you deserve the honor of leading them. This wonderful book will show you how.

SHERILYN SHACKELL , founder & global CEO , The Marketing Academy

Copyright 2022 by Oscar Trimboli

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher or a licence from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For a copyright licence, visit accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800-893-5777.

Every reasonable effort has been made to contact the copyright holders for work reproduced in this book.

Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

Cataloging in publication information is available from Library and Archives Canada.

ISBN 978-1-77458-191-9 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-77458-192-6 (ebook)

ISBN 978-1-77458-239-8 (audiobook)

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Edited by Kelly Irving and Amanda Lewis

Cover design by Cameron McKague

Interior design by Jennifer Lum

Interior illustrations by Jeff Winocur

Printed and bound in Canada by Friesens

Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books

Distributed in the U.S. and internationally by Macmillan

Ebook by Bright Wing Media

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oscartrimboli.com

To my father,
who lost the use of his tongue from his stroke and taught me how to listen without words.

contents

Landmarks

Active listeners notice whats said. Deep listeners explore what isnt said.

your invitation

R ITA IS A busy professional with huge responsibilities at home and at work. As the chief operating officer of a publicly traded organization, she always has the monkey on her back, and people are constantly coming to her to solve their problems. Its absolutely exhausting.

She has received multiple awards from business magazines and womens leadership communities and has consistently been at the top of her profession and industry. But she finds leading in these times tough.

She is constantly asking: Why is coming to work every day like being put into a boxing ring blindfolded, with one arm tied behind my back and three people against me in the ring at the same time?

Based on the way she has led in the past, Rita thinks that more talking, more energy, and faster communication with others to solve their problems is her way out of back-to-back meetings. She doesnt realize that this Energizer Bunny approach to leadership has ceased to be effective and leaves her feeling drained and disappointed. And its starting to become evident to her manager.