Good Listening Skills
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Good listening skills are an essential part of the communication process.
Most people believe that good communicators are those who are eloquent in their speech; trained public speakers and the like. Yes, that is true to some extent.
But communication is a two way process. It’s not just about passing
on information to another person,
but also about receiving the right information from a person.
Good listening skills help you to not just hear what the person is saying, but understand why the person is saying it. That’s a great skill to have.
Often, we like to think that when we communicate, our intentions are understood through the words that we use, but more often than not, the receiving person gets an entirely different message from what you intended.
As a leader, you have to learn good listening skills so that you’ll be able to know what a person is saying and why he’s saying it. It’ll help you understand your followers much better than otherwise.
Good Listening Skills
In Leadership
Most leaders like to think that they’re good listeners, but really they aren’t. Most leaders hear, but don’t listen.
But listening is so important and it helps you achieve so many things. For one thing, you learn.
Ernest Hemingway said, “I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.”
And D.J Kaufman said,“ Wisdom is the reward for a lifetime of listening ... when you'd have preferred to talk.”
Listening means you take an attitude that you don’t know it all and you have something that you can learn from the person. You need this attitude in leadership.
I have seen leaders who just simply want to have to say in everything; they cut people off because they believe that they have the best ideas. Their ears are totally closed to suggestions and feedback from their team.
That’s just a lousy attitude.
If you want to become an effective leader, you must learn about how you can have good listening skills and catch all the things you can learn from everyone you meet.
Listening in leadership is important for another reason; to show that you care.
“The first duty of love is to listen.” says Paul Tillich. The simple act of listening tells the person that he/she’s important to you. And really, just simply by listening, you can win people over to you.
Have you ever wanted to stick closer to one person more than another? Have you ever felt more compelled to tell a particular person about your challenges or you feelings?
Most likely, the person in your head now is a good listener. Good listeners are hard to come by but people value them deeply. They trust them with their secrets and open the door of their hearts to them.
Listening isn’t hard, but it really is powerful. Start understanding what it takes to be a good listener start listening to people in your life; be it your family, friends, colleagues or followers. It’s a important step to becoming an effective leader who has a great attitude to care and to learn.
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