Executive offsites and leadership programs
Leadership and executive development initiatives and offsites
Adaptive Listening®
You’ve Felt the Pain.Teams have strong data, even framed as strategic recommendations, but decisions stall. Meetings feel productive, everyone feels busy, but projects still take too long to get done.
The same conversations, about the same issues, keep coming up again and again.
When Adaptive Listening® Is the Right Fit
Organizations typically engage Duarte around Adaptive Listening® when they are experiencing patterns such as:
- Decisions that take too long or never fully land
- Cross-functional friction or misalignment
- Feedback that creates defensiveness instead of progress
- Leaders who are seen as decisive by some and dismissive by others
- Teams that feel unheard, even in meetings that include a lot of discussion
- High-performing individuals who struggle to influence across the organization
It (All) Starts with Listening
Leaders often describe these challenges as problems with alignment, execution, or accountability. In our work, they frequently trace back to something more fundamental: listening skills.
Adaptive Listening® is Duarte’s approach to helping organizations build the listening capability required to move work forward, especially when the stakes, pace, and complexity are high.
Adaptive Listening® helps teams recognize what different moments call for and how to respond the right way at the right time.
What changes
One Framework.
Four Listening Styles.
Every Conversation.
Instead of defaulting to one ‘right’ way to listen, teams learn how to:
- Build trust without slowing momentum
- Move decisions forward without dismissing concerns
- Navigate tension without avoiding hard judgment
- Reduce rework caused by misaligned conversations
- Improve leadership presence in high-stakes moments
Three Ways Organizations Benefit From Adaptive Listening®
Adaptive Listening® is not a one-size-fits-all program. Duarte partners with organizations to apply the approach in ways that fit their context, goals, and culture.
Team workshops and department rollouts
Team or department-level capability building
Embedded in sales, product, or change initiatives
Integration into sales, product, or change communication efforts
9
9
/10
would recommend
Nine out of 10 people who took the workshop said they would recommend it to a colleague.
9.5
9.5
/10
facilitator rating
Our facilitators are rated 9.5 out of 10 by participants.
9
9
/10
can apply immediately
Nine out of 10 say they can apply what they learned right away.
Grounded in Real Organizational Work
Adaptive Listening® is based on years of research and application inside real organizations. It has been used with leaders, managers, and teams navigating complex decisions, transformation efforts, and high-stakes communication moments.
The approach reflects how listening actually shows up at work: under pressure, with imperfect information, and real consequences.
Heard from the room
“When I see an opportunity for communication training within Visa, I refer Duarte. In my opinion, they are seen as leaders of storytelling as a discipline.”
“Thank you all so much for your partnership! We had an amazing, successful summit. The panel speakers were engaging and we had multiple tears and clap-able moments. We’ll be on the lookout for opportunities to partner again – we really enjoyed working with you and got a ton of value from it.”
“The techniques have proven invaluable as we refine our communication strategies and engage with various stakeholders. Your practical advice and real-world examples have given our teams actionable insights to convey our messages effectively.”
Go Deeper
Find Your Listening Style
Watch the Award-Winning Adaptive Listening® TED Talk
Learn the S.A.I.D. Model and our Listening POV
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