Our story
At Listening Partnership, we believe that narrative matters. Stories are at the heart of our identity, of our relationships, our work – they reveal who we are and how we choose to live in the world. Far from limited to childhood imagination, or ‘once upon a time’, stories have the power to inform and inspire us, to unite or divide us, to diminish or transform the shape of our lives – here and now. Narrative infuses the real worlds of individuals, of leaders, teams, organisations, and whole communities. And we all frame our sense of who we are through the stories we tell.
Founders – Nick Isbister and Jude Elliman
We founded Listening Partnership in 2012, having already worked together for twenty-five years running a strengths-based coaching consultancy. We honed our experience over those years working with people, listening to their lives, exploring and reshaping their defining stories. We began to find a way to capture the transformative power of narrative in life and leadership, and created our first narrative coaching programme. That was the genesis of the distinctive Listening Partnership approach – narrative became the thread from our past into our future.
We have continued to evolve and enrich our work, with a focus on developing leaders and transforming the narratives that drive them and their organisations. Our work is based on the understanding that people develop their identity through the stories they tell themselves and choose to express to the world. And we believe that great leaders live in a world of stories like everyone else, but with the added privilege and responsibility of using narrative to illuminate and inspire, to open new possibilities and spark meaningful change. Our approach, rooted in deeply-held business values, is designed to enable leaders to make stories that are compelling and generate futures established on what matters most.
Our team
Our skilled narrative coaches bring their own stories to the Listening Partnership. We each make a distinctive contribution, bringing different background specialisms, the experiences that have shaped us, and unique perspectives on the world. We are united in difference, yet we share a commitment to working with people and honouring their personal and professional narratives. We believe in the power and significance of story, and the potential for transformation in defining, refining and creating new stories. We believe in hope and resilience – worked out in the lives of individuals, expressed in the effectiveness of teams, and evidenced in organisational success.
“Nick Isbister and Jude Elliman have helped me see how we can use storytelling as leaders to solve the real challenge of keeping our teams motivated, engaged and working with purpose. They dig into the power of continuous and active listening and really understand the hidden stories that hide in the shadow of our very visible and sometimes seemingly glowing company and team cultures. As they say, ‘Leaders and great leadership teams create environments where people feel free enough and safe enough to tell it like it is.’”
John Murtough
Ex-Football Director, Manchester United