In a recent blog for Harvard Business Review, Ram Charan, author of The Leadership Pipeline, writes about The Discipline of Listening. He says “for leaders, listening is a central competence for success.” In his work with business leaders he says that 360-degree feedback results indicates that one out of four of leaders has a listening deficit-the effects of which can kill collaboration in companies, sink careers, and if it’s the CEO with the deficit, derail the company.
Charan says “listening is connecting. Your ability to understand the true spirit of a message as it is intended to be communicated, and demonstrate your understanding, is paramount in forming connections and leading effectively.” To support his point, he cites that GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt says “humble listening” is one of the top four competencies for leaders at GE.
Here are 4 tips Charan shares for increasing your listening skills:
Pan for Nuggets – “train yourself to sift for the nuggets in a conversation. Then let the other person know that they were understood by probing, clarifying, or further shaping those thoughts.” He shares a great practice that one manager used to discipline himself to listen beyond the content.
Consider the Source – “work to understand each person’s frame of reference-where they are coming from.”
Slow Down – “It takes time to truly hear someone and to replay the essence of their thoughts back them so that both parties are clear on what was said. The payback is dramatic, but it comes over the long run.”
Keep Yourself Honest – “Make a habit of asking yourself after interactions whether you understood the essence of what was said to you, the person’s point of view, their context, and their emotion. Also ask yourself whether that person knows that they were heard and understood.”
Charan concludes the blog saying “truly empathetic listening requires courage-the willingness to let go of the old habits and embrace new ones that may, at first, feel time-consuming and inefficient. But once acquired, these listening habits are the very skills that turn would-be leaders into true ones.”
How would you rate your listening skills?
What would your employees, clients, friends and family say about you as a listener?
Take some time this week to observe yourself as you interact with others.
We guarantee, if you work on your listening skills, everyone around you will notice the difference but more importantly, you’ll notice something happening to you!
Let us know what you notice!
Write your comments below. We’d love to hear from you.
