One expert points out that leaders touch your heart before they ask for your hand. That’s the law of connection. Before a leader can touch a person’s heart, he or she has to know what’s in it. And you learn that by listening. A reluctance to listen is too typical among poor leaders. Over half of all management problems are the consequence of faulty communications. And the vast majority of communication problems stem from poor listening. Many voices are clamouring for our attention. As you think about how to listen, keep in mind that you have two reasons for listening: a) to connect with people, and b) to learn about them. That includes your competitors. Sam Markewich quipped, ‘If you don’t agree with me, it means you haven’t been listening.’ Though of course he was joking, the sad truth is that when a leader views another organisation only as competition, he or she focuses attention on building their own case or championing their own objective and forgets to learn from the other group’s efforts. Now, you don’t necessarily want to base your actions on what the other person is doing, but you should still listen and learn how to improve yourself. It’s a costly mistake to get so busy doing your own thing, or trying to make things happen, that you’re not paying attention to what’s going on around you. Every day you live and every experience you have, both negative and positive, can teach you valuable lessons. But you must listen!

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.