Wednesday & Thursday - Inspiration Quotes and Writing Techniques - Listening With Intention: Writing, Wisdom, and the Practice of Presence

By midweek, leaders are often fully immersed in motion—meetings stack up, decisions accelerate, and communication becomes more transactional. Presence, however, is not diminished by momentum; it is refined by intention.

Listening as leadership means engaging others with awareness, curiosity, and discernment—skills long practiced by writers, thinkers, and philosophers.

A Guiding Quotation on Presence

“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.”
— Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway’s insight is not about silence or restraint, but about full attention. To listen completely requires clearing internal distractions and approaching conversations with openness rather than pre-formed responses.

What Writing Teaches Us About Listening

Writers develop presence through habits that leaders can readily adopt:

1. Attention to Subtext

Great writing attends not only to what is said, but to what is implied. Leaders who cultivate presence listen for tone, context, and emotion—not just content.

2. Drafting as Discovery

Writers use writing to discover what they think. Journaling allows leaders to process ideas privately, so conversations become more intentional and grounded.

3. Rhythm and Flow

Writers understand pacing. Leadership conversations benefit from the same awareness—knowing when to speak, when to invite input, and when to simply receive.

Presence in the Age of Digital Saturation

Digital environments encourage constant partial attention. Presence requires a counterbalance—habits that deepen focus rather than divide it.

The growing digital balance movement emphasizes:

• Fewer fragmented interactions
• More thoughtful engagement
• Greater alignment between intention and action

Analog writing practices support leaders in cultivating this depth of engagement.

From Reflection to Leadership Practice

At Just Myself Journals, our workshops integrate guided writing as a leadership development tool—helping professionals strengthen attention, emotional awareness, and listening capacity.

Presence emerges not from withdrawal, but from deliberate engagement—meeting others fully, informed by reflection rather than reaction.