Why Should You Listen More?
Summary: There’s a plethora of noise in everyone’s lives at any given time. And unless you don’t decide to add to all that meaninglessness, the fear is that you’ll lose your voice in the barrage. Silence is therefore the key. It’s the key to listening. It’s the key to filtering out what’s unnecessary. And finally, it’s the key to unlocking the doors to a well-judged and well-timed self-expression.
Why is Listening extremely important to build a healthy professional or personal relationship with anyone? What makes silence the key to unlocking the doors to a well-judged and well-timed self-expression? Read on to find out.
Communication is about listening first and talking next. We seem to have the whole process reversed, haven’t we? An average person hears somewhere from 20,000 to 30,000 words each day.1 That’s what research tells us. It makes me think about the number of words that we must speak at the average rate of 125 to 175 words per minute, knowing the love for expressing our opinion to everyone is a favourite hobby for most of us.
Listening is extremely important if you ever want to build a healthy professional or personal relationship with anyone.
Here 3 ways to help you make a better listener:
Pay close attention
Minimize the drama
Mirror, explain, and relate
Impact on Leadership
Learning how to connect with your team is the first step in developing your leadership listening abilities. When you listen, you gather information and make an effort to comprehend the thoughts, feelings, and emotions that are connected to the topic at hand. This improves employee engagement and motivation, which boosts productivity.4 People are more forthcoming and truthful when they perceive their leader to be interested in them and the situation at hand.
3 Immediately Applicable Action Steps
- Next time when your employee wishes to speak to you, try to avoid any distraction.
- Next time you have a disgruntled employee talking to you, ask them questions regarding the real source of an issue.
- Follow-up questions can help you understand your conversation partner better.
References
1- M. Gray. (2017, August 17). Are you listening to me? – In Business Madison. In Business Madison. Retrieved from https://www.ibmadison.com/are-you-listening-to-me/
2- McGrath, R. (2022, August 1). How Listening Will Transform Your Leadership. How Listening Will Transform Your Leadership. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/leadership/
how-listening-will-transform-your-leadership/430590
3- T. Ferrari. (n.d.). The executive’s guide to better listening | McKinsey. McKinsey & Company. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/leadership/the-executives-guide-to-better-listening
4- Black. (2019, September 2). 6 Proven Ways to Create a Culture of Engagement. 6 Proven Ways to Create a Culture of Engagement. Retrieved from https://www.betterup.com/blog/6-proven-ways-to-create-a-culture-of-engagement
Authored by Coach Vikram
Vikram is an Executive Presence Coach who supports CXOs and senior leaders to make an impact, influence, and lead with ease. He advises C-level leaders and teams to strengthen business performance through their executive presence and star leadership.
Vikram works closely with Boards and senior leaders to align leadership needs with strategy. His forte is his ability to develop trusted partnerships with senior leaders at some of the most recognized companies in the world. Vikram coaches senior leaders to draw upon their best selves, while growing their business and their leadership capabilities.
Vikram and his team have developed a groundbreaking model of executive presence and an Executive Presence Index (EPI) Assessment, the first frequency based, scientifically validated tool to measure executive presence.
Connect with him if you want practical and immediately applicable strategies to accelerate results, develop your people, and influence others to make a positive difference in your organization.
