LISTENING SKILLS

Listening Skills for Strong Listeners

Listening Skills for Strong Listeners

Introduction

A good Listening skill usually refers to active listening. Active listening means that not just listening to the literal meanings of the words but listen so that you understood complete meaning of each and every word. Listening skills are part of the overall listening skills. Effective communication is stressed in management and is one essential skill that is required in leaders. One main element of effective communication for leaders is listening. Listening is an important as speaking. Leaders should possess effective speaking skills, but should have listening skills as well because it leads to good decision making. Misunderstanding can cause a huge problem for the leader and his sub-ordinates. Poor listening can affect the business and the profitability of a business can suffer due to this. Leaders should make sure that misunderstandings do not occur. Usually the leaders have an attitude that they don't care about what others are saying, be it an employee or a customer. They only care about what they say and want things done in their way. This attitude should be changed because it damages the leader's own image and harms others, as well (Caputo et.al, 2003).

Discussion

Importance of Listening to Leaders

Effective communication is an important tool for doing business, and a fundamental element of effective communication is listening. Mangers should possess the listening skills that can be effective for them as leaders and for the business as whole. If they are successful with this, then only they will be known as good leader. The importance of listening skills for leaders falls into following categories, which are explained in detail below (Whetten, Cameron, 2002):

Leading Diversity & Cross Cultural Communication

Good listening is an essentially vital thing to be successful in cross-cultural communication. The analysis of the receiver assists people in formulating the communication strategy, which a person can understand. If one communication strategy is successful in one country, there is no guarantee that the same will be prosperous in other country. Good listening allows people to understand the feelings and behavior of individual. These skills work as a tool to gather feedback regarding any services offered.

Good listening is essential to the leaders because of the potential to misunderstand the meaning and enunciation of words. In some cultures, for example, in Saudi Arabia, people will say “yes” when they mean “maybe” or “no." They agree simply to be polite. People are expected to know these courtesies are always extended, so feelings are not hurt. In some cultures, such as Syria's, not being embarrassed is extremely important. (Rees, Porter, 2008).

Listening is important to resolving many situations. A typical speaker communicates 125 words per minute. The typical listener can receive 400-600 words per minute. Paying attention to what the other person is saying is known as empathy. Empathy encourages excellent communication and healthier outcomes. The organization should provide critical thinking training for all employees. Improving self-image is another important skill to sharpen. Effective communication should be part of every organization's goals, both ...