LISTENING: AN ESSENTIAL VALUE FOR LEADERS
If you are going on a job interview today, what would you say is the most important skill you would need? Is it writing, to create a knockout resume? Or maybe salesmanship? After all, isn’t that what you do on an interview, sell yourself? Or how about charisma? If you are charismatic, you are sure to get the job you want, right?
Or let’s say that instead of going on an interview, you were going to spend your day recruiting, whether for business prospects, or people to function in your team. What skill would you need as a recruiter? Discernment? An eye for talent?
Better yet, let’s say your job today was to supply new ideas for your organization. What qualities would you need? Creativity? Intelligence? What is the number one ability you would need?
No matter which one of these three tasks you were to take on today, you would need one skill over all others, more than talent, discernment, or charm. It is the one skill that all great leaders recognize as indispensable to their ability to influence others and succeed. Have you guessed what it is? It is the ability to listen.
THE VALUES OF LISTENING
Edgar Watson once said “No man would listen to you talk if he didn’t know it was his turn next”. This accurately describes the way too many people approach communication – they are too busy waiting for their turn to really listen to others. Buttrue leaders understand the incredible value of becoming a good listener. For example, Lyndon Johnson, a Junior Senator from Texas, kept a sign on his office wall that read,“You aren’t learning nothing when you are doing all the talking.” Also, Woodow Wilson, the twenty-eighth American president once said, “The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people.”
The ability to skillfully listen is one key to gaining influence with others.
BENEFITS OF LISTENING
- Listening Shows Respect
Whenever you don’t pay attention to what others have to say, you send them the message that you don’t value them. But when you listen to others, you communicate that you respect them. Even more, you show them that you care. German-born Philosopher-Theologian Paul Tillich commented, “The first duty of love is to listen.”
A mistake that people often make in communicating is trying very hard to impress the other person. They try to make themselves appear smart, witty, or entertaining. But if you want to relate well to others, you have to be willing to focus on what they have to offer. Be impressed and interested, not impressive and interesting. Ralph Waldo Emerson acknowledged, “Every man I meet is in some way my superior, and I can learn of him.” Remember that and listen, and the lines of communication will really open up.
Don’t listen to reply, but listen to understand”
- Listening builds relationships
The author of “How to Win Friends and Influence People” Dale Carnegie advised “You can make more friends in two weeks by becoming a good listener than you can in two years trying to get other people interested in you.”
By becoming a good listener, you are able to connect with others on more levels and develop stronger, deeper relationships because you are meeting a need. C. Neil pointed out that “everyone needs someone who he feels really listens to him.” When you become that important listener, you help that person. And you make a significant step toward becoming a person of influence in his or her life.
3. Listening increases Knowledge
A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he knows something.It is amazing how much you can learn about your friends and family, your job, the organizations you work in, and yourself when you decide to really listen to others. But not everyone clues in to this benefit.
“It is absolutely a waste of time to sell real answers to anyone who just wants to buy echoes.” And you’ll never know how close you are to a million-dollar idea unless you are willing to listen.
Beware of putting yourself into a position where you think you know all the answers. Anytime you do, you will be putting yourself in danger. It is almost impossible to think of yourself as “the expert” and continue growing and learning at the same time. All great leaders are great learners and great listeners.
One common problem as people gain more authoring is that they often listen to others less and less. It is required that the higher you go, the greater your need for good listening skills.
Only if you develop good listening skills early, and then continue to use it, will you be able to gather the information you need to succeed.
As you proceed through life and become more successful, don’t lose sight of your need to keep growing and improving. And remember, “a deaf ear is evidence of a close mind.”
4. Listening generates ideas
Fresh, innovative ideas help us to find new ways to solve old problems, to generate new products and processes to keep our organizations growing, and to continue growing and improving personally. Plutarch of the ancient Greece once said “Know how to listen, and you will profit even from those who talk badly”.
When we consider innovative companies that never run out of ideas, the companies who listen to consumers are the ones who fall under this category. Good companies have a reputation of listening.
What is good effective companies is also good for individuals. When you consistently listen to others, you never suffer for ideas. People love to contribute, especially when their leader shares the credit with them. If you give people the opportunity to share their thoughts, and you listen with an open mind, there will always be a flow of new ideas. And even if you hear ideas that won’t work, just listening to them can often spark other creative thoughts in you and others. You’ll never know how close you are to a million-dollar idea unless you are willing to listen.
5. Listening builds loyalty
A funny thing happens when you don’t make a practice of listening to people. They find others who will. Anytime employees, spouse, colleagues, children, or friends no longer believe they are being listened to, they seek out people who will give them what they want. Sometimes the consequences can be disastrous: the end of a friendship, lack of authority at work, lessened parental influence, or the breakdown of marriage.
On the other hand, practicing good listening skills draws people to you. Karl Menninger said “The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward, and we want to sit in their radius.” Everyone loves a good listener and is attracted to him or her. And if you consistently listen to others, valuing them and what they have to offer, they likely develop a strong loyalty to you, even when your authority with them is unofficial or informal.
6. Listening is a Great Way to Help Others and Yourself
I will start by urging you to “let others confide in you. It may not help you, but it surely will help them.” At first glance, listening to others may appear to benefit only them, but when you become a good listener, you put yourself in a position to help yourself too. You have the ability to develop strong relationships, gather valuable information, and increase your understanding of yourself and others.
Source: https://lwvalues.wordpress.com/2016/09/07/listening-an-essential-value-for-leaders/
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