9 Powerful Active Listening Skills

Leadership Agility for Turbulent Times

Active listening leader is listening to her team memebers

(Active listening skills are leadership agility for turbulent times)

               The recent pandemic caused significant supply chain issues, long-term absences, disruptions or lapses in communication, and resignations. As the pandemic escalated, so did workplace turbulence. The causes and impacts demanded rapid transformational leadership responses. Early research indicates leaders who successfully navigated pandemic-related chaos were those who possessed the skills of active listening and dramatically transformed their workplace cultures.

               Leaders with active listening skills assess and act upon emerging workplace issues. Active listeners are focused, nimble, and make high-quality decisions. A few insights tell us, active listeners:

  1. Focus on speakers

  2. Gather relevant information

  3. Avoid assumptions

  4. Offer a space for an open and candid conversation

Active listening leader is talking on the phone and taking notes

It should come as no surprise that leaders increase their roles, responsibilities, and influence when they utilize active listening skills.  Active listeners need only provide a quiet place, absent distractions or interruptions and focus on gathering key stakeholder input. Active listening leaders generate positive attitudes and responses when meeting with others if they:

  1. Remain neutral by silencing their own preconceptions

  2. Ask clarifying questions and elicit insights throughout the conversation

  3. Create and maintain a collegial atmosphere with no interruptions, challenges to ideas, or in-the-moment evaluations

  4.   Let stakeholders speak and share past experiences and observations

  5.   Boost self-confidence and self-esteem in others by continually soliciting insights

  6.   Provide positive feedback on ideas and input

  7. Gain buy-in by asking for possible solutions and implementation

  8. Do not impose or force favored solution(s)

  9. Provide additional time to consider barriers and constraints

Active listening provides powerful benefits for leaders.  They are not seen as weak but rather as leaders who sustain collaborative meaningful communication styles where all have a voice in decision-making.

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