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Heard, seen, respected

HSR is a practice that helps people build empathy and trust by encouraging them to truly listen to and acknowledge one another - especially in situations where there are no easy answers or quick fixes.
What It Makes Possible:
  • Empathy in Action: Encourages participants to “walk in the shoes” of others, fostering deeper understanding.
  • Cultural Shift: Helps improve the group’s emotional climate and psychological safety.
  • Trust Building: Strengthens relationships by validating each person’s experience.
  • Pattern Awareness: Helps groups recognize and shift away from unproductive interaction habits.
  • Compassionate Practice: Reinforces the value of responding with care rather than control or overpromising.
How It Works:
  • Participants take turns sharing experiences while others listen without interrupting or fixing.
  • The focus is on being present and acknowledging - not solving.
  • Over time, this builds a foundation for more respectful and resilient collaboration.

  • Time needed

    35 minutes

  • Preparation

    1. Miro Board (online) or paper (F2F)
    2. Split into smaller groups (in pairs and foursomes) - prepare the rooms online in Teams

  • How to start

    1. Invite participants to tell a story to a partner about a time when they felt that they were not heard, seen, or respected
    2. Ask the listeners to avoid any interruptions other than asking questions like “What else?” or “What happened next?”

  • Step-by-step and timing

    1. Introduce the purpose of HSR: to practice listening without trying to fix anything or make any judgments (3 min)
    2. One at a time, each person has 7 minutes to share a story about NOT being heard, seen, or respected. (15 min)
    3. Partners share with one another the experiences of listening and storytelling: “What did it feel like to tell my story; what did it feel like to listen to your story?” (5 min)
    4. In a foursome, participants share reflections using (1-2-4), asking, “What patterns are revealed in the stories? What importance do you assign to the pattern?” (5 min)
    5. As a whole group, reflect on the questions, “How could HSR be used to address challenges revealed by the patterns? What other Liberating Structures could be used?” (5 min)

  • Hints

    1. Make it safe by saying, “You may not want to pick the most painful story that comes to mind.”
    2. Make it safe by saying, “Protect carefully the privacy of the storyteller. Ask what parts, if any, you can share with others.”
    3. Suggest, “When you are the listener, notice when you form a judgment (about what is right or wrong) or when you get an idea about how you can help, then let it go.”

  • Examples of use

    1. Reveal how common it is for people to experience not being heard, seen, or respected
    2. Improve listening, tuning, and empathy among group members
    3. Notice how much can be accomplished simply by listening
    4. Help managers discern when listening is more effective than trying to solve a problem

  • Link with other Liberating Structures

    boost low compass-point assessments together with:

    Appreciative interviews

    Conversation café

    Generation relationships

    Helping heuristics

    Troika consulting

  • Link to Liberating Structures page

    Heard, seen, respected

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