Active listening is probably one the most important skills a leader needs to have to foster trust and commitment among people within an organization.
Effective leaders know that people want to be heard, to feel like they matter, and active listening allows them to understand their employee’s perspectives, needs, and goals.
Before starting, it is useful to say that there are two different types of listening: passive listening and active listening.
Passive listening is basically when we hear what’s going on in the conversation but we really don’t pay too much attention to the message the speaker is delivering.
Whereas active listening requires more engagement in order to understand, respond and then remember what is being said.
Active listening cannot be developed overnight but it is a skill that can be improved.
So, Here are five steps that you could use to improve your active listening skills as a leader.
1. Pay attention
Pay attention to what the speaker is saying.
Today, we get constantly distracted by many things such as smartphones, emails, social media and so on.
Although there are a lot of external distractions, we should clear our minds of self-talk and internal dialogue in order to be able to clearly digest the information we receive.
So when team members want to talk with you, be sure that you are ready to give them your full attention. If you are not able to pay attention at that moment, be honest and share it with the person; then set a time that works better for both and be sure to follow through.
When the conversation starts, put down your smartphone, remove any distractions that can keep you from being focused on the conversation and maintain eye contact with the speaker.
So, remember that when you’re involved in a conversation, it’s important to focus more on the other person and less on yourself, ignore the distractions, stop worrying about what you’re going to say next, and simply pay attention.
2. Don’t interrupt
Don’t interrupt the speaker while he or she is talking.
What usually happens is that as we listen to someone we mentally judge what they are saying, or we think of our own experiences, not allowing the mind to remain in a clear state.
For example, the speaker may be talking about something you have also experienced, and in this case the best thing to do is to hold back on your similar experience until they have finished.
In fact, interrupting the speaker while the message is conveyed is counterproductive because you could block the communication flow by missing out some minor details that could be useful in order to understand the whole message.
Remember, while it is tempting to interrupt with a comment or a question, leaders who master active listening pause to provide the speaker with the ability to fully speak his mind. In fact, the greatest gift as a leader you can give to your people is the ability for them to explore their thoughts and feelings.
By doing so, you will encourage your people to open up and trust you more.
3. Stay engaged and interact
Stay engaged and interact with the speaker in order to understand the substance of the message.
To do this you could try different approaches. For example you could repeat some of the words you have heard. This is the easiest route, because people will hear exactly what they have just said. But the suggestion is to use this approach carefully because if you exaggerate the other person might start to doubt your understanding.
Alternatively, you could summarize what you have heard into something shorter. By doing so, you show that you understood the message. However, pay attention not to leave out important details that the speaker shared.
After that, it is important to ask appropriate questions to be sure that what you have heard was correct. In fact, being sure that you understand what is being said is vital to being successful at active listening as a leader.
Remember, providing instant feedback to the speaker is extremely important to ensure that the message has been received and understood. At the same time, it is also an opportunity for the speaker to clarify some aspects which may have been misunderstood by the listener.
4. Wait till the end
Wait until the end before sharing your thoughts.
Now I need you to pay special attention to this step. Because it is a critical one.
What often happens is that listeners confuse the suggestion of asking appropriate questions, to be sure that what they have heard was correct, with interrupting speakers while they are still talking.
So, it is important to let the speaker finish before sharing your thoughts. If you notice that the speaker pauses, that is not the moment to share your thoughts, or your experience, but that is the right moment to ask questions in order to collect more details about what is being said.
By observing visual, and physical clues as well as the speaker’s words, you will know when the whole message has been delivered and then you can start to share your insights.
5. Share your feedback
So up until now you paid attention, you didn’t interrupt the speaker, you asked questions and waited till the end; Now, it’s time to share your feedback, your opinions about what you have just listened to.
To do this you need to deeply understand the message and what the speaker is really looking for, such as compassion, understanding, support or a solution.
Once you have taken into consideration the meaning of the initial message you can decide the most appropriate response. Your response has to send a consistent message and let the speaker know that you took enough time to actively listen to what he or she said and that it was important to you.
Remember, to be as efficient as possible in delivering your response you need to consider what you know about your people, how they receive information and as a consequence you need to be able to adapt your communication style accordingly.
So, these are the five steps to improve your active listening skills as a leader.
As a recap, we can say that active listening is a two-way communication and requires engagement and interaction with the speaker in order to deeply understand the message.
If you do this you will be rewarded as a leader. Your teams, your people will be more productive and satisfied because they will feel empowered and supported by you.
