Leading By Listening
Listening is essential to discovering opportunities, dangers, and a path forward. Winning teams depend on listening for effective strategy, collaboration, and context. When we listen to understand, to uncover what really matters to the speaker, we glean mission-critical information.
Listening intelligence (LI) can move a mission forward, and lack of it, can derail one. Colorado entrepreneur, Dana Dupius, CEO and founder of the ECHO Listening Profile developed methods to enhance collaboration and performance culture by boosting listening intelligence with an assessment and scientifically validated profile.
We listen for what matters to us, and we may screen out, ignore, or not even perceive what we don’t know is important. The very act of listening reveals our values. Yet, I find many people are not sure how to express this core of their leadership, what really matters to them, in listening form.
Have you ever received feedback about your listening?
The business case for listening skills keeps growing as managers struggle to connect with remote employees, retain their high-performers, and develop strong teams.
Honoring what matters to you while you work is a form of inner alignment – congruency between who you are and what you do. As your leadership strategy evolves, so do you. Listening well fuels authenticity and wellbeing, as well as effective leadership.
Consider what you are listening for in your next meeting or conversation.
If you are habitually listening for the data and analysis, you may want to shift channels to listen to how people are being affected. Find out what your team needs, then the design an approach collaboratively, rooted in the reality of their experience as well as your own.
Reliable strengths and listening habits can be easily built so that you can listen more deeply, intuitively and effectively.
Seize the opportunity to network and learn by connecting with professionals from different industries and organizations and upgrade your listening intelligence, starting this month.
Registration is now open for my upcoming 6-series live, virtual and interactive course, “Listening Intelligence Upgrade for People Professionals.” Learn more about this course here.
About the author: Jessica Hartung is a serial entrepreneur, executive mentor and leadership development author. Learn more about Jessica Hartung here.
