|
Do You Listen Enough?
By Evelyn Garcia-Morales
NHLI Program Manager
The following column is an adaptation from Listening as a Leadership Skill workshop by Madeline Snow from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
One of our natural human instincts is to evaluate, judge and approve (or disapprove) another person’s statement. Listening as a leadership skill is a critical component to negotiating, evaluating and searching for conclusions. But what does listening really mean? Listening with understanding means taking a risk. To really understand another person, you must be willing to enter their private world and see the way life appears to them; you risk being changed yourself and possibly influenced by seeing things their way.
An Effective tool for Active Listening
Ask Questions
Cascading questions refer to open-ended neutral questions that are an integral part to active listening. They help ease communication and assign the responder the responsibility to articulate her/his ideas or thoughts more openly.
The following set of questions may help the questioner in a conversation connect with respondents and feel fully engaged:
- What is most important to you in _______________?
- What does this action make possible?
- What would that lead to?
To avoid tensions, its best to stay away from “Why” questions. They imply judgment and may put the person being asked questions in a self-protective position which can lead the responder to stop a discussion abruptly or too quickly. Respondents may also feel the need to defensively justify how they feel and instead of asking or explaining points, they may just focus forms on what inquirers may want to know.
The active listener has the specific responsibility not to just absorb words she/he hears, but to grasp the facts and feelings, and help the speaker work out his/her problems so that the conversation is more transparent and effective.
Did you enjoy this leadership tip? Let NHLI know about other leadership lessons you would like to read next by sending an email to newsletter@nhli.org
|
