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What are IGLC courses about?
Participants learn how to use listening as a skill that enables them to strengthen and/or build relationships with each conversation. Also, through various exercises, participants learn how to recognize their individual communication habits, catch themselves engaged in unproductive behavior and shift in the course of the interaction so that it has an ultimately productive outcome.
How did all this start?
IGLC’s founder, Carol McCall, drew on her clinical psychology, teaching, entrepreneurial, personal development work and life experiences to create what has become the core content for our courses. The nine principles of Empowered Listening and our methodology for delivering them have been a work in progress for most of her 40-year career.
What can participants hope to gain by attending your courses?
Course participants learn how to stop interpreting what they’re hearing and begin to listen to what’s actually being said. The result of this subtle-sounding shift in focus is profound improvement in the areas of clear communication, family and work-related conflict resolution and the ability to manage and lead.
Why focus on listening?
Because listening – not speaking – is the nucleus of communication. After working with people ranging from corporate CEOs to the criminally insane, Carol McCall came to realize that feeling listened to and understood was as primal a need as food and self-preservation for most human beings. The principles of Empowered Listening were created to address this need.
Who typically attends your courses?
Our business has grown over the past 10 years by word-of-mouth, so our course alumni run the gamut demographically. Alumni tell friends, family, colleagues – anyone they care about. Small business owners, entrepreneurs, homemakers, corporate executives, teachers, students, psychologists, aerospace engineers – people from all walks of life have attended our courses. Our youngest participant has been 16 years of age, and our oldest, 89.
What happens in a typical course?
The content and focus vary depending on the course, but there are format similarities. During the Presentations and Discussions, the seminar leader will speak about various subjects relevant to listening, and adult life versus childhood communication experiences. Participants Journal at various times, to access memories and explore people and events that can influence communication/listening habits. Small Group Sessions led by Trainers-in-Training and Certified/Licensed Trainers convene 5-15 participants for exercises designed to practice the listening tools. There is also Personal Interaction, where participants share, discuss, listen and learn from each other.
What makes your courses unique?
Two things. First, no other program places as much emphasis on the individual participant and the specific communication habits keeping him or her from being their best. While many “communication” courses offer one-size-fits-all tips and techniques, we walk each participant through a process that identifies where and why communication breakdowns occur for that individual. We then work with participants to learn how to break the pattern. Second, no one focuses on the listening end of the communication equation and its ability to impact a person’s effectiveness at home and at work the way we do. For many, Empowered Listening has been what’s missing from their efforts to reach their full potential.
How much do courses cost?
Our Introduction to Listening call (offered bi-monthly) is free. Our corporate 1-Day Path to Skillful Listening course is $350 U.S. per person. Our two-day and four-day Listening and Women’s courses are $425 and $500 U.S., respectively. Our most popular public courses are The Listening Course and Possibility of Woman course.
Who facilitates these courses?
Carol McCall leads all of the courses, and there is a group of Certified Trainers who support IGLC in offering the 20+ courses IGLC hosts nationally and internationally each year.
What is Carol McCall’s background?
Carol is starting her second decade as founder and CEO of IGLC. Her background includes running a private counseling practice; serving as a teacher, principal, and administrator in the California and Illinois public school systems; and serving on the enrollment staff for Werner Erhart’s EST organization. Presently, she is finishing her doctorate in Communication Psychology. The thesis involves proving that endorphins and toxins are created in the body during a conversation. Her hypothesis is that what is produced depends on whether a person feels “heard” or not.
How do you answer those who say, “I don’t need this course because I’m already a good communicator/listener”?
The answer is, if every relationship in your life has zero room for improvement or, if in your personal or business relationships, you never experience upset or “getting your buttons pushed,” then there’s nothing our courses can do for you. To everyone else, we invite you to explore how much better your “good communication” can get.
Your subject matter explores habits, behavior patterns, relationships – what some might consider therapy territory. Is this psychology or therapy, and are you/your trainers qualified to give that kind of advice?
We are communication experts and make no claims to anything else. Carol McCall’s background in psychology enabled her to synthesize elements from a number of abstract theories to form this unique set of communication tools. These tools are more practical and applicable to everyday conversation than anything else available. Our trainers are trained to teach participants how to use these tools to get the most out of every relationship.
Do you have any faith-based affiliation?
No. While Carol McCall is a very spiritual person, neither her company nor the nine principles taught in the courses have any faith-based affiliation.
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