1. Listening to Learn
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2. Learning Objectives Become aware of how we listen
Explore good listening as a communication skill
Practice the skills of active and empathetic listening
Examine the relationship between listening skills and the receiving and giving of feedback
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3. Why is Listening a Key Skill of Leadership?
Listening is a primary means for connecting with other people.
Listening provides the means to make decisions and solve problems.
Not all people are good at conveying their thoughts
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4. “Seek first to understand then be understood” Stephen Covey
Stephen R. Covey is chairman and founder of Covey Leadership Center.
He is author of “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, with over 12 million copies sold in 32 languages.
Known internationally as an author, lecturer, teacher and leadership mentor.
Trained thousands of leaders in business, industry, education and government in the principles of management and leadership development.
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5. Two Parts of Effective Listening
Active Listening
Reflects back
Rephrases
No value judgments
Strives to hear the message
Looks for the main thought or idea
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6. Two Parts of Effective Listening
Active Listening
Empathetic Listening
Sincere attempt to understand
Pay attention to body language, tone of voice, emotional sense
Imagine things from the speaker’s point of view
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7. Effective Listening Active Empathetic
and
Empathetic
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8. Monitoring our Listening Level
How do you respond –
when you are hearing something you don’t want to hear?
When a speaker is angry?
When you are tired or hungry?
A key to effective listening is being aware of our current situation, energy level and interest.
If we are upset, it may affect how we listen
Being drowsy will impact our attention span
What if you are chilly, hot, or late for another appointment?
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9. Monitoring our Listening Level
What are some things you can do to help you adjust to better grasp the message of a speaker?
Focus more on what is being said
call time out to put on sweater, get something to eat, take care of something
distracting, or let your emotions cool down.
Then you can get back together under conditions more conductive to good listening.
Can we control every listening situation?
Often we are in situations that make communication difficult.
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10. Good Listening Skills Are powerful tools for:
calming adversarial situations
finding solutions to problems.
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11. Listeners should always
strive to create a
positive present
as opposed to a
negative past.
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12. Giving and Receiving Feedback
Ask questions to build rapport
Use open-ended questions
Who? Why? How?
Listen to their message
Be aware of your body language
Be aware of their body language
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13. Tips on Giving Feedback
Be helpful.
Is recipient open to feedback?
Deal only with changeable behaviors.
Deal with specifics, not generalities.
Describe the behavior; DO NOT evaluate it.
Describe the impact to you.
Accept your responsibility.
Check understanding
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14. Tips on Giving Feedback
You can give caring feedback without a good technique, but the slickest technique in the world will not hide a lack of caring.
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15. Tips on Receiving Feedback
Seek out feedback.
Listen carefully.
Listen actively.
Listen empathetically.
Try not to become angry or defensive.
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16. Tips on Receiving Feedback
Try not to become angry or defensive.
Remember
You are not a “bad” person
People still like and respect you
Retain perspective and context
Do not discount feedback based upon the source
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17. Tips on Receiving Feedback
Consider feedback
to be a gift.
It truly is.
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18. Summary
Effective Listening is a skill that each of us can learn and can constantly improve upon.
Listening plays a vital role in forming relationships, developing teams, and finding solutions.
The best listening is both active and empathetic.
Listening can be a tool in turning a negative situation into a positive one.
Listening well is an important part of both receiving and giving feedback.
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