Communication | The art of listening and its role in career success

Our relationship with listening of course starts early, our parents normally having the largest influence as they guide our formative years.

Our personality traits that developed in childhood evolve further as we establish and then grow our lives and careers. In the course of this journey, we think the value of listening gets forgotten or is overlooked. Let us explain.

We are struck by how often perception of leaders is driven by what they do and say rather than how well they listen. As an exercise and example type best public orators into google; then type best public listeners. We don’t celebrate listening yet ironically the best public speakers also tend to be brilliant at listening; understanding the views of others and appreciating the world around them makes their content richer.

‘Active listening’ is a term often used in parenting self-help books, i.e. really concentrating on what is being said rather than just passively following the message of the person speaking. In addition, listening is much more than just hearing and absorbing information; it is also about being inquisitive, considerate, and showing how you have interpreted what has just been said. These are much sought after traits in the modern leader. Yet how often do we engage in conversations where it feels like the other person/people are desperate to get their viewpoint across, to the point where it is questionable whether they have digested yours.