Good leaders are good decision-makers. They know how to make decisions, but they also know that all decisions may not deliver the desired results. That’s why they gather extensive information by listening to all quarters so as to make the best decision to achieve organizational objectives.
There are four pillars of business communication:
- Speaking
- Listening
- Writing
- Reading
Any successful professional must be competent in these four aspects. Although these four are equally important, it is listening that takes precedence among them, even for leaders. According to listening expert Dr. Lyman K. Steil of the University of Minnesota, Americans spend most of their communication time listening, followed by speaking, then reading, and last, by writing.
Newkirk and Linden (1982) unfolded three listening types: time wasters, dissonance reducers and active listeners. Time wasters mostly daydream; dissonance reducers encounter conflict when loaded with new information that is inconsistent with what they know; and active listeners pay attention not only to the messages delivered by the speakers, but also to other hidden aspects such as emotions, egos, and feelings, which are known as the hidden data of communication.
Listening Is a Soft Skill
When you listen, you respect the other person, and it also shows your keen interest to learn. Thus, when you want to show respect to another person, listen attentively as it builds bridges. During communication, it is necessary to maintain eye contact and radiate warmth in order to connect with others easily. It is said that 80 percent of a leader’s success depends on listening.
In his book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” Stephen R. Covey reveals that listening is one of the great habits. He states, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” As such, listening is an effective ingredient of leadership. If bosses didn’t listen to their team members and educators didn’t listen to students, could they excel as good role models? Lee Iacocca, former CEO of Chrysler Corporation, said, “I only wish I could find an institute that teaches people how to listen. Businesspeople need to listen at least as much as they need to talk. Too many people fail to realize that real communication goes in both directions.”
Listening Is Leadership
Listening is learning and listening is leadership. Listening and leadership are two sides of the same coin, as leadership is incomplete without listening. Leaders must listen to people to know the various aspects and dimensions of problems. It helps them make the best and most appropriate decision for the situation. It helps to minimize failures and enhance the success rate in decision-making. It makes people happy as they feel that they have been consulted, listened to, valued, and respected. It promotes team spirit and fraternity at the workplace, thus bridging the gap between superiors and subordinates.
Listening Tips for Leaders
- Pay attention to the content and not to other aspects while listening. Also, look for non-verbal cues. Peter F. Drucker rightly noted, “The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.”
- Don’t jump to conclusions. Avoid the inner noise that prevents effective listening. Inner noise is all about inner dialogue, which takes place within all human beings during their waking hours. When someone speaks, the inner noise prevents receivers from listening, making them jump to conclusions. It is rightly said that we assume communication. That means we assume within our minds that we have communicated with others, as most of the time communication takes place within the mind, leading to conflicts in the workplace. At times, big egos prevent us from listening.
- Summarize what the speaker said. This prevents you from deviating from the topic and provides an exercise for your mind and enriches knowledge.
- Emphasize value addition. Whenever the speaker delivers a message, try to add your own comments by relating your real-life experiences. It improves your listening skills and enhances retention of the information for a longer time.
- Paraphrase the message. Paraphrasing is all about converting the sender’s message into the language of the receiver. It helps you to stay within the topic and results in attentive listening.
- If possible, take notes. This keeps you within the topic and encourages the speaker. In addition, note taking is an indication of your perseverance. It is rightly said that a short pencil is better than a long memory.
- Suspend your judgement. People often rush to conclusions without listening to others properly. It prevents them from learning and absorbing new things.
- Above all, have respect for the speaker. Only when you respect the speaker will you be able to listen well and learn well. The more you learn, the better leader you will be.
Make Your Call
Making decisions is not an easy task. It involves the collection of information, analyzing it from multiple perspectives, keeping in mind the pros and cons, and finally, making a call. There is no guarantee that all decisions will be accurate and successful. However, if leaders are empathetic, selective, and attentive listeners, they will be able to weigh both the merits and demerits, take into consideration their head and heart, and make the final decision. Listening to all ensures more information from multiple perspectives, leading to high-quality decision-making with greater probability for success. That is the reason most leaders talk less and listen more, so they can process the information mentally to come up with viable outcomes.
Good leaders learn from others through keen listening without any false ego. Who knows, a common man might provide better inputs than the experts? Good leaders know that great ideas can only come from the cadre on the lower rungs. As Wal-Mart’s Sam Walton said, “The key to success is to get out into the store and listen to what the associates have to say. It’s terribly important for everyone to get involved. Our best ideas come from clerks and stockboys.”
It is true that everyone appreciates the opportunity to express themselves. As such, leaders must realize the needs of their people and strike the right chord by listening attentively to connect with and touch them. You cannot clap with one hand; similarly, for effective communication, both the sender and the listener must coordinate effectively. Only then can the right decision be made. To sum up, listen to all and make your call.
Professor M.S.Rao, Ph.D., is an international leadership guru and leadership educator, executive coach, speaker, and consultant. He has 34 years of experience and is the author of 30 books including 21 Success Sutras for Leaders (http://www.amazon.com/21-Success-Sutras-Leaders-ebook/dp/B00AK98ELI) that was ranked as one of the Top 10 Leadership Books of the Year – 2013 by San Diego University. His award-winning book “Success Tools for CEO Coaches: Be a Learner, Leader, and Ladder,” is the Community Award Winner for 2014 by Small Business Trends (http://bookawards.smallbiztrends.com/management-2014/success-tools-for-ceo-coaches-8/). His award-winning book, “Smart Leadership: Lessons for Leaders” (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D9S8SCW) has been published as a Spanish language e-book. His vision is to build 1 million students as global leaders by 2030 (http://professormsraovision2030.blogspot.in). He has been honored as an upcoming International Leadership Guru by Leadership Gurus International (http://www.globalgurus.org/leadership/upcoming.php) and listed as one of the leading achievers around the world in Marquis Who’s Who in the World in 2013. He serves as an advisor and judge for several international organizations, including Global Leadership Awards, Malaysia. He received the International Coach of the Year 2013 Award from Comprehensive Coaching U, Inc. http://www.terrilevine.com/coachoftheyear/winners.html Professor Rao coined an innovative teaching tool called Meka’s Method; a leadership teaching tool, 11E Leadership Grid; and a new leadership tool called Soft Leadership Grid, based on his new leadership style, “Soft Leadership” copyrighted with Jossey Bass. He led a Webinar on Soft leadership organized by International Leadership Association (http://www.ila-net.org/Webinars/Archive/Rao082012.html). A No.1 ranked speaker in India, reviews can be found at: http://speakerpedia.com/speakers/professor-msrao. Books can be found at: www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A16SKI0396UBRP. Most of his work is available free of charge in his three blogs http://profmsr.blogspot.com http://professormsrao.blogspot.com and http://professormsraoguru.blogspot.com Contact him via e-mail at msrlctrg@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @professormsrao.
