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    Growth Performance

    Empathetic Listening Evaluator

    Assess the quality of your listening across three dimensions, authentic presence, listening without judgment, and emotional responsiveness.

    Purpose: Empathetic listening is among the most powerful and underused leadership capabilities. Research from the Chartered Management Institute and Harvard Business School shows that leaders who listen deeply generate significantly higher levels of trust, engagement and psychological safety. This diagnostic helps you understand where your listening is strong and where it may be creating distance rather than connection.

    Instructions: Rate each statement from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree) based on how you actually listen in difficult or important conversations, not casual exchanges. Think of recent one-to-ones, feedback conversations or moments of team tension.

    Progress0 of 15 items completed

    1.Authentic Presence & Attention

    True listening begins with being genuinely present, not preparing your response while the other person speaks, but fully attending to what they are saying.

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    out of 25

    When someone is speaking to me, I give them my full attention, I am not simultaneously thinking about what I will say next

    I put away distractions (phone, laptop, internal preoccupations) before important conversations

    I notice when my attention has drifted and bring it back to the person speaking without judging myself for it

    People I lead tell me, or show me through their behaviour, that they feel genuinely heard in conversations with me

    I resist the urge to fill silences immediately, I allow space for the other person to continue or deepen what they are saying

    2.Listening Without Judgment

    Empathetic listening requires the suspension of evaluation, holding off on forming a view until you have truly understood the other person's perspective.

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    out of 25

    I can listen to a perspective I strongly disagree with without interrupting, rebutting or visibly reacting

    I ask questions to understand rather than to challenge, I seek to understand before I seek to be understood

    I don't finish other people's sentences or assume I know what they are going to say

    I reflect back what I have heard before responding, I check my understanding before offering my view

    I can hear criticism or difficult feedback about myself without becoming defensive during the conversation

    3.Emotional Responsiveness

    Empathetic listening includes acknowledging the emotional dimension of what is being shared, not just the content, so the other person feels genuinely understood.

    -
    out of 25

    I notice and acknowledge the emotional state of the person I am speaking with, I don't just respond to the words

    I can sit with someone else's distress without rushing to fix it, minimise it or move on

    I validate how someone is feeling before offering solutions or advice

    I adjust my tone and pace based on the emotional register of the conversation, I don't respond to an upset person in the same way I respond to a factual briefing

    After difficult conversations, people feel better for having spoken to me, not worse, and not just the same