Let’s Listen….

Inspiring others by listening to them. When you listen to the people around you, you show them that they matter, and that their ideas are worth hearing. Let’s start listening more, speaking less when it matters, especially as leaders. Show your employees that you value input and collaboration. This applies to your employees and employers alike – show them you respect and include your peers. When employees say they want their voices to be heard, they are really saying they want leaders who will not just hear them, but really listen to them. As a leader, it’s difficult to really know what your employees are thinking about, what is troubling them or how to help them get out of a performance slump –unless you take the time listen to them. Several listening techniques in the workplace can be applied to show a speaker that you are a good listener. Techniques that illustrate good listening: paying attention, while, it is easy to get distracted, particularly if the person you are listening to is going off track of their message, it is important to stay engaged in the conversation; responding to the speaker, interjecting small comments while someone is speaking lets them know that you are indeed engaged in the conversation; avoiding judgment, when someone is saying something that you disagree with, it’s natural to break in and judge the speaker –even before he finishes his sentence or thought. Interrupting and judging are two behaviors that have no place in listening; repeating the message, another listening technique that is very useful is distilling what you just heard and repeating it back to the speaker in short form. So let’s listen, you’ll better understand what employees care about, what their goals are, and you’ll better know how to motivate and inspire them.