leadership listening skills pop quiz as a leader which skill is more important
listening or speaking? If you said speaking you would be right if you said
listening you would be even more right so yeah both are important but
leadership listening skills get way less attention let's change that because if
you don't listen the right way your ability to speak persuasively will be
seriously handicapped today I'm giving you my three strategies for listening
a like a leader. What's up Explearners. Mary Daphne here of myexplearning.com
where we believe a richer life begins a better communication you've probably
caught wind by now that listening is just as important as speaking if you
want to be an effective leader if you're not able to listen you're not able to
communicate and if you're not able to communicate no one listens and if no one
listens then you're not able to lead let's talk about three ways you can
enhance your leadership listening skills to become a more effective leader number
one listen passionately most people think that listening is easy just sit
and look at the person who's speaking right the truth is that effective
listening is so much more than a passive activity if you're doing it right
listening should be even more work than speaking this begins was proving to the
speaker that you are engaged in the conversation this is a combination of
body language and strategically timed interjections your face should express
the way what they're saying makes you feel for example do they say something
surprising raise your eyebrows and say something like wow
do they speak in an exasperated tone not knowingly and say something like that
sounds frustrating pay attention to the speaker's body language and their tone
of voice they'll be giving tons of clues as to how they feel about what they're
saying which you can then use to respond appropriately you should also be taking
notes on what they're saying in your head or on paper if it doesn't feel too
formal this will force you to really really listen and to identify the most
important aspects of what they're saying notes are also really good because once
there's a natural pause in the conversation you can scan them in order
to make an insightful comment or pose a clarifying question these types of
comments and questions prove that you're really truly paying attention and that
you care about what the person is saying when someone sees that you care they are
much more inclined to listen to you they'll see that you're invested in them
which increases their trust in you trust and a willingness to listen are
important traits you want to foster in those that you seek to lead see I told
you listening wasn't passive number to respect dissenting opinions when people
come to you with ideas or opinions you might not always agree right but that
doesn't mean you should ignore them just the opposite during these times of
discord and disagreement you should make it a point of truly listening to them
even more closely really hear what they have to say if you disagree on something
then that might be a red flag that there's a gap in understanding between
the two of you which is something that you'll want to address ASAP so keep
asking those clarifying questions until you fully understand their point of view
once you understand where the disconnect is you can invest time into bridging
that gap with particularly she's topics it's possible that you
won't reach a point of agreement and that's okay as long as you've proved to
them that you can clearly see things from their perspective you've gone a
very long way in resolving the matter and they'll appreciate your interest in
their point of view even if you don't agree and that will ensure that they
continue to hear you out on unrelated topics in the future in other words by
taking the time to get you on the same page
you've reinforced your ability to serve their best interests which will foster
trust and respect 3 listen for needs as I mentioned in a previous lesson on
positively influencing people being a leader is different than being a boss as
a leader you need to understand the needs of those you lead why because your
goal is to empower people to be as productive and as happy as they can be
the most surefire way to do that is to figure out what they need and give them
what they need and in order for you to figure out what they need what do you
have to do yep you guessed it you need to listen to them don't give them what
you think they want or what you want anytime someone asks for something you
should be saying yeah on the inside because they just gave you an insight
into what is actually important to them make a note of what people want and what
they ask for and soon you'll start to see a pattern
and what people need once you figure that out you can work on ways to serve
that need you put yourself in a position of power when you're able to deliver on
people's needs they're looking to you for help they will grow to appreciate
and respect you when you can provide it so there we have it three powerful steps
to becoming a more effective leader through better listening so let's
quickly recap number one listen passionately if listening feels easy
you're doing it wrong number two respect dissenting opinions these are great
opportunities to show that you are invested in them
and number three listen for what people want and then give it to them there are
a lot more askers than givers in this world and it's no surprise that the
givers are rewarded for their efforts namely in trust and respect. Alright Explearners
that's a wrap on this lesson add these strategies to your Explearning
communications toolkit try them out and make them your own if you enjoyed this
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lesson Happy Explearning