How to Listen Like You Mean It

Learn why the timeless skill of listening is more important than ever before

Ximena Vengoechea is a user researcher, writer, and illustrator whose work on personal and professional development has been published in Inc., The Washington post, Newsweek, and Huffington Post. She is the author of the new book, Listen Like You Mean it: Reclaiming the Lost Art of True Connection (Portfolio/Penguin Random House).

She is a contributor at Fast Company and The Muse, and writes Letters from Ximena, a newsletter on tech, culture, career, and creativity. An experienced manager, mentor, and researcher in the tech industry, she previously worked at Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

I caught up with Ximena to ask her about how we can be better listeners at a time when so many conversations and so much of our work happens online.

What are the most common listening mistakes we can encounter in the workplace?

Particularly in the workplace, where each of us has our own set of skills and expertise that we bring to the table, it’s natural to hear what our colleagues say through the lens of “how can my expertise help?” or “what would I do if it were me?”. Sometimes this can be very helpful, but sometimes by focusing so much on our own experience and expertise we…