LESSONS FROM SUE (#2)

Part of Coach Sue Gunter's relationship gift was always seeing the best in people and communicating it to them. She was a believer in the human spirit and one’s ability to rise and meet their potential. It didn’t matter if she knew you for 10 years or that you had just met, you would always walk away feeling better about yourself. The stories are endless of how Coach Gunter could make you feel.

In his book "The Art of Living", Wilfred Peterson speaks of the various levels of listening. With each level and can see Coach Gunter executing in various situations. Peterson’s levels of listening included:

Listen with your eyes. Imaginatively listen to the sounds in a poem, a novel, a picture.

Coach Gunter always, I mean always, made eye contact when you spoke. You knew she was listening for content. There was an intensity in her listening.

Listen critically. Mentally challenge assertions, ideas, philosophies. Seek the truth with an open mind. This was always evident when we spoke in regard to recruits, game plans, scouting reports, practice preparation.

Coach Gunter would ask probing questions or make keen observations that would only come from critical listening.

Listen with patience. Do not hurry the other person. Show them the courtesy of listening to what they have to say, not matter how much you may disagree. You may learn something.

This was a great quality that Coach Gunter had that she would try to instill to her staff. We would be so eager to impress or suggest that we would sometimes cut each other off and not get the other persons full thoughts. Coach Gunter would quickly stop us and encourage the person to continue.

Listen with your heart. Practice empathy when you listen; put yourself in the other person’s place and try to hear their problems in your heart.

There was no one better than Coach Gunter. Because she genuinely cared, she always would be an empathic listener. Despite her opinions, she would listen and try to feel what the speaker was feeling. She was very opening minded because she simply wanted what was best for those involved.

Listen creatively. Listen carefully for ideas or the germs of ideas. Listen for hints or clues which will spark creative projects.

Again, Coach Gunter had a tremendous desire to learn. She was always interested in new and better ways to get things done — again the result of being open minded.

Listen to yourself. Listen to your deepest yearnings, your highest aspirations, your noblest impulses. Listen to the better person within you.

While Coach Gunter always listened with an open mind, I didn’t mean that she would make a decision overriding a strong conviction that she held. She was fully aware of her experience, especially in coaching, and knew just when to go with her gut instinct.

Listen with depth. Be still and meditate. Listen with the ear of intuition for the inspiration of the infinite.

Coach Gunter enjoyed listening to those who she considered experts in their field. She could have easily, because of her experience level, erase or tune out many but she was always looking for truth and improvement and she knew to do that that she must listen with a level of depth.

By Coach Gunter being a great listener, you should not take that to mean that she was not an excellent speaker. I just believe that her ability to listen made her an even more effective communicator — whether it be verbal or written.