What is a Chief Listening Officer, anyway?

There’s a question that’s been brewing ever since we introduced Abby Turner as our Chief Listening Officer last week.

What is a Chief Listening Officer, anyway?

Ironically, the U.K. appointed their own Chief Listening Officer last week… they just gave the position a slightly different name:

Minister for Loneliness.

“We know that there is a real impact of social isolation and loneliness on people, on their physical and mental well-being but also on other aspects in society and we want to tackle this challenge,” Tracey Crouch, the newly-appointed Minister for Loneliness, shared.

Prime Minister Theresa May, who called loneliness, “a sad reality of modern life,” also noted, “I want to confront this challenge for our society and for all of us to take action to address the loneliness endured by the elderly, by carers, by those who have lost loved ones—people who have no one to talk to or share their thoughts and experiences with.”

We feel the same way.

In hiring Abby as our Chief Listening Officer, we hope to set a precedent for the kind of culture we’re trying to create at Someone To Tell It To—and really, the kind of culture we hope for worldwide. Our goal is to cultivate meaningful relationships through compassionate listening and to train others to do the same. Hiring a Chief Listening Officer is an enormous step forward in achieving that goal.

Still have questions? We’d love to hear from you. We’re pretty big fans of listening 🙂 

Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash