Sunday, March 22, 2009

The Art of Listening

During my career I have had the opportunity to work for a lot of different managers, project leaders and CEO's... unfortunately most of them were terrible leaders. One thing I have found that all of these terrible managers have in common is that they might listen to you but they don't hear what you are saying and the feeling of not being heard is truly a team killer.

So what is the art of listening then?
  • Just listen
  • Do not give explanations (unless they are asked for)
  • Do not interrupt
  • Do not go into defensive mode
  • Confirm what you've heard and...
  • Ask what you can do (don't offer help unless it's asked for)
That seems pretty simple, but I've met very few mangers that were proffiecent in the art of listening.

No comments:

Post a Comment