Effective listening is a habit that great leaders cultivate. They use every chance they get to incorporate it when communicating, get feedback, and use the data to assess the areas they need to improve.
As we listen to others they often begin to create their own solutions, take responsibility and move to action. We begin to empower our staff to rise up to their challenges.
We've listed 5 ways that listening makes you a more effective leader.
1. Listening helps you understand your business better
Your employees know the needs and frustrations of your customers, they also know the day-to-day problems that your business faces because they face them… these are the best opportunities for your business to improve.
2. Listening improves your situational and contextual awareness
Faced with complexity and uncertainty, paying attention to what your employees tell you, improves your ability to determine not only the right course of action but the right style and tone you need to adopt in this moment. Leadership is situational.
3. Listening gives you a vision of the reality on the ground
Listening gives you knowledge and insights into the day-to-day reality of your employees.
When you’re trying to establish and maintain trust it’s essential to create an environment that encourages everyone to speak openly about their daily challenges. You might be surprised at how different their reality is from your perception of it.
4. Listening shows you care
This almost doesn’t need explaining. When someone really listens to us, we feel like they care about us. It’s exactly the same when we feel heard at work… it makes us feel like we matter and we belong.
5. Listening increases your capacity as a leader
The knowledge and perspectives that we can gain from those around us increase our leadership capacity. Being open to feedback and new ideas from your team helps you learn and grow as a leader.
Now go back and replace the word “Listening” with “Harkn”. It’s still true.
