OVERVIEW
Let´s focus on communication, specifically listening. , As employees each of you have a leadership role based on your positions. In these positions you are required to take instructions, present guidance, make decisions, and implement policy. If you cannot listen effectively, you will miss critical instructions, mislead guidance, make less informed decisions, and hopefully never implement the wrong policies.
Listen as a leader taps into a range of understanding, ideas, and cooperative sentiments that failing to listen to leads to poor understanding or interpretation of orders and incorrect evaluations what you may hear; addressing these issues now allows for recognition and adapting personal attitudes to be more effective leaders (Simmons, 2011).
Let us get started with the main purpose we are gathered her today.
GREAT LEADERS
NOTE: Allow image to bring forth mental picture of leaders, pause for quotes then…
We are all familiar with Gen Powell and his first quote is a real fact each of us have experienced in our careers. I personally thought of three examples reading his first quote on leaders I did not want to go to because I felt they heard me, but did not listen.
Each of us have learned in various Professional Military Education how listening is the process of receiving, comprehending, and recalling a specific message; failure to do such can literally compromise missions, loss of resources, and be a matter of life and death.
Listening leadership entails more than just the appearance of listening; it is a transformation where the leader becomes a listening communicator who does not pay false attention, pretend to comprehend, or ignore members (Stillion Southard & Wolvin, 2009). In fact, t...
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...rs, contingencies, and outcomes. Academy of Management Journal, 55(4), 787-818. doi:10.5465/amj.2010.0441
Simmons, R. (2011). Leadership and listening: The reception of user voice in today's public
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Stillion Southard, B. F., & Wolvin, A. D. (2009). Jimmy Carter: A case study in listening
leadership. International Journal of Listening, 23(2), 141-152. doi:10.1080/10904010903014467
Rane, D. B. (2011). Good listening skills make efficient business sense. IUP Journal of Soft
Skills, 5(4), 43-51.
Walesh, S. G. (2012). The leader within you: Let it come out!. Leadership & Management in
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Wallace, R. (2013). Critical listening: Sensible ways to teach a neglected skill. The Missouri
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Leaders are very important members of society. Leadership, regardless of how it is defined, is still the ability to lead, manage, advise, teach, decide and direct. In the book “Leading Out Loud” the author Terry Pearce says leadership communication has to express the competence of the communicator while contributing to a sense of trust. Leaders must make it clear that change is aligned with the organization and their leadership goals. Leaders must prove themselves to be competent and trustworthy. In authentic leadership communication the author states that 4 principles must be employed- discovering what matters, applying courage, discipline, and decide to lead.
Mlls, D. Q. (2005). Leadership How to Lead, How to Live. Boston: Harvad Business School Press.
Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.
In Rane’s article, “Good Listening Skills Make Efficient Business Sense” the author looks at way effective listening is just as important to the communication process as speech. Rane points out there is distinct difference between hearing and listening; hearing is simply “a physical and passive activity, whereas listening is necessarily a mental activity and hence it is active in nature…” (2011, p. 44). While a person can continuously hear what another person is saying, in order for an individual to truly hear what another is saying, they need to be actively engaged in the communication process (Rane, 2011). The article delves in to the significance that listening has throughout a successful business: from a manager’s ability to listen to their
... they are surrounded by authentic leaders. They know their work is valued, their input is valued, and their time is valued. Thus, listening to others serves to be beneficial in multiple ways. Furthermore, actively listening to others improves a leaders ability to effectively manage team conflict and improve group dynamics. By listening to the team and understanding the issues that are occurring, a leader can provide control and guidance to the team through effective conflict resolution skills and in turn attain a more productive and cohesive team. Group dynamics continue to improve when utilizing great listening skills as a leader because team members become more engaged and talkative as they air out any internal information. The ability to listen will truly make someone a great leader for these reasons and may more as they all tie into everything you do as a leader.
...ividuals that truly listen and acknowledge those ideas and message. In today’s workforce perfecting the skill of effective listening is an ability and technique that can lead to growth and success if properly applied. Finally, as Nichols’ accurately accounted “listening is hard work” (1961) and I believe that it is a skill that must be proactively developed and honed over time requiring concerted and focused effort (Nichols, p. 124).
Active leadership skills are very important however active listening confirms that the message is truly transmitted strengthening the total leadership concept. According to Colwell, active listening is not just listening with your ears, we must look at the sender to absorb there words while deciphering in our minds what is truly be said. The understanding of active listening opens people’s eyes in seeing actually how a person sees and feels about the world. Further examining great leaders, caring leaders know his/her teams and have high level...
Active listening can be considered as the other half of successful communication. However, Humans generally listen at a 25% comprehension rate, meaning that they are probably missing more of what people are saying than they realize. In fact, listening and attempting to understand what other people saying can reduce errors and prevent wasting time. As a manager in a company, active listening is an important factor to create a positive
As a professional in today’s society, it is greatly important to be able to communicate effectively with other professionals, with clients, and with those that are encountered in daily living. In order to communicate in a proper manner, not only is talking and non-verbal communication, but a large aspect is the ability to listen. Listening is a vital task in order to build a relationship and find meaning in someone else’s words. In order to find this meaning one must follow the characteristics of active listening, face the challenges to listening, and reflect upon one’s own listening skills.
When thinking about a topic for this paper, I realized that we all go through our daily lives having lots of conversations with friends, co-workers, and our family members. Unfortunately, most of the time we don’t listen as well as we could or even should at times. We seem often distracted by our environment, with things such as TV, the Internet, or our phones. I believe that we are listening so-to-speak, but we aren’t giving them our full attention. Hence my topic for this paper, a skill called active listening. When thinking about what active listening actually is, we see that it’s all about building understanding and trust of the listener. As I present
Effective communication encompasses many concepts. For a leader to be effective, one must be able to build relationships between different parties. In order to build a good rapport, one must be able to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of those involved, and within oneself. Acknowledging these differences will allow for a better collaboration between team members. A leader must also have the ability to put conflict resolution theories into practice. Allowing differing points of view may challenge the original idea and will make for a more thorough decision making process. Although this may seem counterproductive, it actually ensures the best possible outcome. One must be consistent in the message presented yet be flexible, approachable and maintain a positive attitude. Allowing for different perspectives to be heard will allow team members to feel valued. This flexibility helps to solidify the concept that everyone is in this together; thus establishing an environment where all team members can have a buy-in. Encouraging team members to voice opinions and give feedback produces an atmosphere of constructive give-and-take; a real t...
Leadership is one of the most important facets in organizations. In most cases, leaders act with respect to organizational culture as well as the codes of conduct that determine the manner in which leaders relate with subordinates. Leadership entails the use of effective communication skills to get activities done in the workplace and to ensure that employees shelve their individual interests for the sake of their organizations’ shared targets. It is the role of leaders to ensure that consumers attain high quality products and services by making certain that members of their firms’ workforce are fully motivated to work effectively and utilize resources in an efficient manner (Bass, 22). With the increasingly sophisticated nature of the corporate world, leadership should not be based solely on the desire to control and coordinate affairs within the workplace, but leaders should also exhibit positive examples and continually monitor the changing trends in corporate governance to initiate the most relevant guidelines. Competitiveness can only be attained when leaders are in a position to set the right standards in their firms and coordinate affairs appropriately by understanding consumer and employee needs.
“Lack of listening skills affects marriages, parents and children, teachers and students, employers and employees, foreign affairs, and the list goes on” ("The Importance of Listening"). This paper will discuss how poor listening skills adversely affect interpersonal relationships. Variable listening skills will be examined through different characteristics, real-life scenarios and the improvements that could be made with tips.
Every business consists of a variety of communication activities such as listening, speaking, questioning, gathering and participating in small work groups. The listening skill is one of the most important aspects of communication process. It helps to understand and read the other person’s message. Effective listening skills create positive workplace relationships which influence our opinions and responsiveness to one another.
Furthermore, excellent communication skills are essential for effective performance management [U.S. office of personnel management 2016]. The need for continuous dialogue is essential. Managers should create an atmosphere which is conducive for interaction and work. So that colleagues can be able to share information on the organization’s mission, values and objectives. This leads to efficient and effective performance which contributes in meeting the goals of the organisation