Five Reasons Wise Leaders Listen

Developing as a proficient leader requires commitment to mastering many of the skills and tools of leadership. One of the strategic skills of leadership is the art of listening. According to Robert Kramer of George Washington University, “To a large degree, effective leadership is effective listening.”

If the skill of listening is so vital to leadership, then why do a myriad of studies reveal that it alludes the average leader?

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Consider the following interesting Statistics on Listening:

• People spend 70 to 80 percent of their waking hours in some form of communication. Of that time, we spend about 9 percent writing, 16 percent reading, 30 percent speaking, and 45 percent listening. 
• Not listening is the #1 reason marriages fail. (Gottman)
• It is estimated that 85% of what we know is learned through listening.
• Only 2% of Americans have had formal education in listening.
• The average attention-span is 8 seconds.
• The four types of listening are appreciative, empathetic, comprehensive, and critical.

As I have interacted with leaders globally, I have accrued a list of reasons why Wise Leaders Listen. In my experience, these five reasons have consistently surfaced as reasons for developing listening skills as leaders.

1. Listening Encourages Team Participation. – “Would-be” leaders who talk more than they listen, fail to foster team engagement. This issue may be due to insecurity, insensitivity or pride but it restricts productivity. As I mentioned in a previous blog, team collaboration exponentially increases the rate of success.
   
   ” Leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say.” –Andy Stanley
   
   
2. Listening Models a Learning Mindset. – All the highly effective leaders I have known are Life-long Learners. I cannot remember one successful leader who did not possess a teachable spirit.
   
   “I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So, if I’m going to learn, I must do it by listening.” –Larry King
   
   
3. Listening Reveals Teachable Moments. – Leaders should schedule training sessions designed to develop other leaders in their context. However, no pre-planned class will ever be as valuable as capturing a “teachable moment” and spontaneously teaching. Leaders who recognize those “teachable moments” are usually skilled in the art of listening.
   
   “If I were to summarize in one sentence the single most important principle I have learned in the field of interpersonal relations, it would be this: Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” –Dr. Stephen Covey
   
   
4. Listening Strengthens Relational Trust. – People rarely trust leaders who do not listen. All of us like to be heard when we speak, and listening communicates genuine care and concern. When people believe their leader is not only listening to their words but their hearts, they tend to allow a bond to be formed.  
   
   “I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”  –Robert McCloskey
   
   
5. Listening Expands a Leader’s Worldview. – All of us have encountered leaders who act as if the world revolves around them and their opinions. Leaders with this mindset limit their worldview because they tend to only see the world through their own perspectives, not allowing other competent viewpoints.
   
   “Humble people listen and ask good questions! When they don’t listen well, they are trapped in their own interpretation of the situation and answers.” –Brad Hambrick

Too often I have failed at the art of listening for a number of reasons. Reasons like insecurity, insensitivity, pride, defensiveness, time constraints, or thinking too highly of my own opinions. Whatever the reason, I am always the loser. I like what D.J. Kaufman says about listening, “Wisdom is the reward for a lifetime of listening … when you’d have preferred to talk.”