What if listening was your superpower?
How would you use it tomorrow?
What happens when we really listen, like Momo?
Momo, the little heroine from Michael Ende's novel, whose superpower was to really listen to people.
“...she just sat there and listened, with all her attention and empathy."
Last week, I had the opportunity to facilitate some Momo moments at a department offsite.
The team members are spread across Germany and almost exclusively interact with each other in MS-Teams tiles in their day-to-day work.
Some of them saw each other in person for the first time last week.
Subject matter-related topics? Not this time, deliberately.
Instead, the question was: What strengthens teams and people in challenging times?
Two days full of genuine encounters, good questions, and inspiring perspectives—all centered around #psychologicalsafety, the SCARF model, PERMA, and resilience.
The framework: World Café, strength-based dialogues, and one of my favorite formats—dyadic conversations.
Two people, one question.
One person speaks for ten minutes while the other simply listens.
Without interrupting, without offering solutions. Just being there, fully present. Like Momo.
At a time when team calls and chats fragment our attention, this seems almost rebelliously simple.
And that's precisely why it's so effective.
I saw people listening with their hearts, engaged in deep conversations.
It was about brilliant moments when they were completely in their element.
It was about what gives them meaning in life.
And about the changes that are currently significant to them.
One participant later said to me:
“It's incredible how quickly we got to very personal topics. And how this created an openness and closeness that would not be possible in ‘normal’ conversations.”
I think that's the core of it.
How do trust and connection actually develop when we mostly encounter each other digitally in everyday life?
Perhaps it doesn't start with big concepts, but with small moments.
In the almost forgotten art of listening.
In taking the time to ask good questions.
In the willingness to simply be there – without any answers in mind.
Where one person holds the space and another is allowed to reveal themselves.
And that's exactly what I love about my job:
creating spaces where small moments can turn into meaningful connections. Where people can truly connect with one another, beyond roles and functions.
And witnessing what becomes possible as a result.
- When was the last time you spent ten minutes just listening to someone without already having the answer in mind?
- How can we create more of these #MomoMoments in our daily lives?
#TeamCulture #NewLeadership
