9 Steps to Improve Your Listening

Act on It! by Sam Deep and Lyle Sussman has some great information for tough management challenges.  Most Managers truly believe that they are good listeners…but their employees would disagree.

1. I strive to give people good listening-to’s rather than good talking-to’s.
2. When possible, I think about the speaker and the topic in advance of a conversation.
3. Whenever I feel on the spot to say something, but I’m not sure what to say, I listen instead for clues that will enable me to summon a good response.
4. I keep the speaker talking when I need to hear more. I ask questions such as “And?” “Then?” and “What Else?”
5. I light a talking fire under speakers by repeating the final word of their last sentence as a question (“…she said she would quit?”)
6. When I am engaged in a conversation, I have nothing in my hands or in from of me, so that I focus on the speaker.
7. I look into speakers’ eyes intently enough to take of their color without staring the person down.
8. I don’t plan a response in my mind with the speaker is still talking.
9. I don’t interrupt. I let the speaker wind down completely before I respond.

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Tags: effective listening, leadership, Management, team building