

		Leadership and Teams In this topic: Leadership Models and Listening Skills (this section) Primal Leadership and the Role of Listening in Emotional Intelligence, Part I Primal Leadership and the Role of Listening in Emotional Intelligence, Part II The Role of Listening in Stephen Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People Peter Drucker's Effective Executive and Listening Skill Don't Hate Meetings, Make Them More Effective IDEO and The Art of Innovation: Brainstorming Techniques for Teams Practical Benefits of Better Listening for Leaders and Teams Shadow Coaching Gives Executives an Up-Close Look at Themselves (Part I) Shadow Coaching Gives Executives an Up-Close Look at Themselves (Part II)

Leadership Models and Listening Skills

Listening skills are critical to effective leadership, but not all leaders possess the effective listening skills they need. At least this is what authors, academics, and pundits have been saying for decades, ranging from Daniel Goleman (Primal Leadership, 2002), Stephen Covey ("Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", 1997, and other "Highly Effective" books), and Peter Drucker (for example, The Effective Executive, 1966). While their formulas and reasoning vary, each emphasizes the foundational importance of listening to understand others and listening to oneself (self-awareness).

Don't Hate Meetings, Make Them More Effective. Meetings can be looked forward to or dreaded. Now the choice is yours with three listening-based tools that give meetings simple and highly efficient structure, from business coach Bruce Wilson with the help of executive/observational coach Donna Karlin. Start with a subtly enhanced agenda plan (download a sample) then add either an internal or external facilitator as needed to make meetings events rather than black holes sucking down time and energy. More...

Shadow coaching is an extraordinarily valuable tool for helping business people improve self-awareness and get personal performance feedback. Bruce Wilson interviewed executive/observational coach Donna Karlin of Ottawa, Canada to find out more about her work "shadow coaching" executive-level leaders to help them improve their effectiveness by making them aware of, or correcting their assumptions about, important parts of their days, their behavior and habits. With that information, executives identify choices between what they want and what they are currently doing. More...

Highly efficient, simply structured brainstorming is how the extreme product design gurus at IDEO float good ideas, like cream, to the top. At IDEO, listening to one another's ideas, along with a few simple "dos" and "don'ts", fuels rapid development of innovative solutions and builds team trust, awareness, and motivation. More...

Calculate the benefits of listening when performing a cost-benefit analysis of business processes. A focus on listening on both individual and organizational levels can lead to better teamwork and productivity, fewer conflicts and errors, innovation, recruiting/retention advantages, and more. More...



		How are YOU doing as a listener/leader? Obviously there's a great deal more to being an effective leader than merely being "in charge." If your leadership, either formal or informal, is important to you, ask yourself the following: Do I pay much attention to listening? Do I ever "replay" conversations afterwards and think about whether or not I listened well? What am I doing right now to sharpen my listening skills? Am I getting better at listening? Am I listening full-force both when others speak to me and when I speak to them? Do I make a deliberate effort (once a day...even once a week?) to practice empathic listening in order to get better at it? When was the last time I had an "a-ha!" moment and finally got what was on somebody's mind? Have I sought 360-degree feedback from co-workers, employees, bosses, clients, and suppliers? Was it recent enough to make it relevant feedback for the current situations and people I'm working with? Have I worked with a coach to help me listen to myself, listen to the people I work with, and figure out ways I can improve on my leadership skills under the present circumstances?

next section: Primal Leadership and the Role of Listening in Emotional Intelligence, Part I

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Leadershipand Teams

Leadership Models and Listening Skills

Leadership
and Teams