When employees come to speak with you, do you put everything down, turn off your phone, and feel truly eager to hear their thoughts? Few managers actually do this on a daily basis, and as a result, they are like air traffic controllers without radar. Listening is an active quest to understand the knowledge, concerns, insights and ideas your employees bring to the table, and you need this information to do your job well.
How Can I Get Them to Listen? I love this question – it is honest, sincere, and you can probably identify with the frustration behind it. In fact, the question in its original form comes from a mother of three asking about her children, and she qualified her questions: “Oh wait, wrong type of leadership?” » Read More
“To answer before listening – that is folly and shame.” Proverbs 18:13 It’s easy for leaders to fall into the trap of thinking they need to have the answer to every problem or situation that arises. After all, that’s in a leader’s job description, right? Solve problems, make decisions, have answers…that’s what we do! Why » Read More
Oops I knew Gary wasn’t happy. Early in my career, when I first began leading team-leaders, one of them was clearly struggling – he looked frustrated, sounded frustrated, and it didn’t take a genius to know something was bothering Gary. So I asked if I could buy him lunch and hear what was on his » Read More
When I was deep in the trenches of senior leadership several years ago, I discovered a vital piece of information that every leader needs to know. And, as I check in with leaders now, it is apparent that most of them have not yet had this ah-ha moment. Are you ready for it? Employees often » Read More
Whenever managers talk to me about work issues, the conversation inevitably turns to employees seeming to “not listen.” Evidence? Work is not getting done according to plan. It’s not meeting requirements or not on time, or not getting done at all. I often hear some form of the frustrated plea, “They just need to understand » Read More
This time in history has been referred to as the attention deficit age. And it is no wonder. Everything moves fast and seems to keep moving faster. There are often so many things we need to do and so many more activities going on at once around us. It can be quite hard to create the mental space » Read More
Lisa Petrilli (@LisaPetrilli) has written a great post titled 7 Lessons the Tango Teaches About Being a Great Follower. The post comes from her own lessons dancing and how she’s learning to enjoy being a follower. Her list contains some interesting insights and even one or two that you might challenge. You Have to Trust » Read More
One of the great beliefs we have as managers is that our job is to listen to our employees’ ideas and then go implement those that we find valuable. Sounds like a great idea. But as managers we know the reality is that a good many employee ideas just don’t make business sense. Read more…
Today’s SmartBlog on Leadership post is by Monica Diaz, author of “Otheresteem: Regaining the Power to Value Others.” “Powerful listening as well as total presence have long been underestimated as central to a leader’s ability to affect change. It’s time to change this, to use active listening skills and insights to widen perspectives and remain » Read More
