What if the most transformative skill in leadership, coaching, and relationships isn’t what you say but how deeply you listen? In this episode, co-hosts Rebecca Walker and Diane Williams explore the art and science of truly powerful listening, and why despite its profound impact on trust, thinking, and performance 98% of leaders have never received formal training in how to listen well, a finding highlighted by listening researcher Oscar Trimboli.

Drawing on the work of Oscar Trimboli and Nancy Kline, Rebecca and Diane explore the crucial difference between simply hearing words and offering the kind of attention that helps others think clearly, speak openly, and feel genuinely understood.

Blending practical coaching-room experience with relatable everyday moments including some memorable feedback from Rebecca’s three-year-old, this episode shines a light on common listening habits and how to change them. This conversation is rich with insights and practical tools for anyone who wants to listen more deeply, connect more meaningfully, and lead more powerfully.

Highlights include:

1. Why most of us have never truly learned how to listen (and why it’s critical for leaders)
2. What your body and breathing have to do with better listening
3. Practical strategies for eliminating distractions and modelling listening behaviour even in busy workplaces
4. The impact of interruptions (even “encouraging” ones) on other people’s thinking
5. Time to Think: How Nancy Kline’s approach to turn-taking can transform meetings and teams
6. How to use silence, presence, and curiosity to unlock deeper levels of listening
7. Coaching-tested techniques for giving everyone a voice, including “interruption pads” and the mental “pause button”
8. Ways to listen for what’s unsaid not just what’s said and why this is where the gold is in any team or family dynamic
9. Their favourite self-coaching questions for reflecting on and improving your own listening.

As always, the episode wraps up with self-coaching questions so you can reflect, experiment, and flex your own listening “muscle” at work, at home, and everywhere in between.

Resources:

Time to Think: Listening to Ignite the Human Mind - Nancy Kline

How to Listen - Oscar Trimboli

About Headflex:

If you're curious about coaching, Headflex offers a range of coaching programmes to suit different needs. 1:1 coaching, team coaching, group coaching and their Headflex in Residence programme.

And, if time management is a challenge in your business then drop them a note and ask for details about their Headflex Lunch and Learn sessions. Visit www.headflex.co.uk

Connect with us at Headflex:

Email: hello@headflex.co.uk.

Website: www.headflex.co.uk

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Confidence is one of the most sought-after qualities in professional and personal life, but it’s also one of the most misunderstood. In this episode of Headflex, co-hosts Rebecca and Diane explore what really makes us feel confident, and why the advice to “just believe in yourself” so often misses the point.

Drawing from years of coaching experience, they reveal the three biggest myths about confidence that regularly come up in coaching sessions like the idea that only extroverts are confident, or that fear must disappear for true confidence to emerge. The conversation covers why confidence is not a fixed personality trait, but a contextual skill that grows with self-awareness, repetition, and experience.

Rebecca and Diane share practical stories, language tips, and somatic exercises to help you shift your internal narrative, quiet your self-doubt, and find your own authentic confidence style, no matter your workplace, personality, or life stage. Whether you’re recovering after maternity leave, stepping back into work post-illness, or just trying to speak up more in meetings, there’s advice here for you.

As always, the episode wraps up with thought-provoking self-coaching questions to help you reflect and take action right away.

Here are the highlights:

01:16 Confidence isn’t a personality trait, but a skill you can grow

02:47 Myth 1: Extroverts aren’t the only confident people

05:53 Why comparison in the workplace is a confidence trap

10:16 Language patterns that undermine your confidence and what to say instead

12:37 Myth 2: Confidence is not the absence of fear, how to work with fear

15:01 Real coaching example: accepting nerves in high-stakes situations

19:21 The power of small actions and repetition in growing confidence

20:12 Myth 3: You’re ‘either confident or not’, labels often hold us back

23:18 How returning from maternity or sick leave impacts confidence

24:08 Focus on strengths to rebuild confidence, instead of weaknesses

26:00 Letting go of outdated labels and beliefs from the past

27:27 Why “be more confident” is a vague and unhelpful feedback goal

28:42 Three self-coaching questions for building confidence.

If you're curious about coaching, Headflex offers a range of coaching programmes to suit different needs. 1:1 coaching, team coaching, group coaching and their Headflex in Residence programme.

And, if time management is a challenge in your business then drop them a note and ask for details about their Headflex Lunch and Learn sessions. Visit www.headflex.co.uk

Connect with us at Headflex:

Email: hello@headflex.co.uk.

Website: www.headflex.co.uk

Instagram: www.instagram.com/head.flex/

Connect with Rebecca Walker: www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccawalker13/

Connect with Diane Williams: www.linkedin.com/in/dianewilliams1

Produced by Winter Audio

In a world where we feel busier than ever, time management can be a huge challenge. Join co-hosts Rebecca and Diane in the latest episode of Headflex, to dive deep into the topic of time management, a recurring challenge in the coaching world, too.

They explore why we often feel like the day controls us, common obstacles we face, and how real self-awareness, rather than simply new tools, is the secret ingredient to managing time effectively. As always, the episode concludes with self-coaching questions that encourage you to reflect and find strategies that work for you.

Here are the highlights:

03:07 What is time management all about (it can be deeply personal)

01:06 The pressure to ‘do more’ often comes from management

09:21 Modern work environments like remote work, can make focus difficult

01:27 There are bigger challenges for those who are neurodivergent

05:36 Identifying tasks you procrastinate or avoid entirely, and uncover why.

13:03 Be careful not to absorb others’ stress or assume deadlines are urgent without clarification.

22:54 Techniques like the Eisenhower Matrix and Pomodoro Technique can be useful once you understand your patterns.

If you're curious about coaching, Headflex offers a range of coaching programmes to suit different needs. 1:1 coaching, team coaching, group coaching and their Headflex in Residence programme.

And, if time management is a challenge in your business then drop them a note and ask for details about their Headflex Lunch and Learn sessions. Visit www.headflex.co.uk

Connect with us at Headflex:

Email: hello@headflex.co.uk.

Website: www.headflex.co.uk

Instagram: www.instagram.com/head.flex/

Connect with Rebecca Walker: www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccawalker13/

Connect with Diane Williams: www.linkedin.com/in/dianewilliams1

Produced by Winter Audio