How can you coach others to listen actively and lead with servant leadership?

Active listening supports deeper connections, builds trust and enhances empathy. Truly hear others' perspectives and needs so you can make more informed decisions as a leader, nurturing a supportive team culture, and ultimately driving better outcomes. Encourage this awareness to pave the way for individuals to practice active listening as a core prerequisite for servant leadership.

I once worked on a project where we were stuck and everyone was talking over each other. I decided to practice active listening, encouraging everyone to share their ideas one by one. By truly listening, we combined our insights and found a solution. This experience showed me how powerful active listening can be in fostering collaboration and finding effective solutions.

Guide your people to practice active listening skills consistently. Encourage them to focus on the speaker, maintain eye contact, ask clarifying questions and show empathy through verbal and non-verbal cues. Role-playing exercises and constructive feedback sessions can be valuable tools for mastering these skills. Make active listening a habit to develop yourself into a more effective and empathetic servant leader, creating a positive impact within your teams and organizations.

This is my top ten of techniques to improve active listening: 1. Maintain Eye Contact. 2. Avoid Interrupting. 3. Ask Open-Ended Questions. 4. Paraphrase / Repeat back what you’ve heard to confirm understanding. 5. Show Empathy. 6. Use Non-Verbal Cues / Nod, smile, and use other body language to show you are listening. 7. Stay Present / Focus on the conversation. 8. Take Notes. 9. Reflect / Think about the speaker’s message and its implications. 10. Practice patience.

As a coach, demonstrate active listening in your interactions, showing genuine interest, maintaining eye contact and responding empathetically. At the same time, exemplify servant leadership by prioritizing others' needs, providing support and promoting a collaborative environment. Embody these qualities to inspire and guide others to adopt active listening and servant leadership as integral aspects of their own leadership styles.

Lead by example. Ultimately, your own behavior is the strongest argument for any approach. If it works well for you, others are likely to follow your lead.

Support team members to engage in active listening exercises, such as reflective listening or paraphrasing, during meetings and discussions. Provide situations where they can take on servant leadership roles, like helping colleagues with tasks or facilitating problem-solving sessions. Offer these chances for hands-on experience to enable individuals to refine their active listening and servant leadership capabilities, supporting their growth as effective leaders.

Support team members in setting up personal goals for improving their active listening skills and taking on more servant leadership responsibilities. Provide constructive feedback and support their efforts to develop these competencies. Present challenges and promote a growth mindset to inspire individuals to continuously enhance their abilities in active listening and servant leadership, contributing to their overall effectiveness as leaders.

Consider creating a supportive environment where individuals feel safe to practice and make mistakes while refining their active listening and servant leadership skills. Recognize and celebrate their progress to reinforce the value of these qualities within your team or organization. Support peer mentorship and learning through shared experiences. Know that coaching is an ongoing process, so periodically revisit and adjust coaching strategies to meet evolving needs and goals.

Learn how to be kind to yourself One of the biggest barriers to being an empowering servant leader is the sense that we should be a model of calm, and remain 'swan-like' in the face of adversity and challenges. Actually, we need to be emotionally agile, noticing when we"re experiencing difficult emotions and being kind to ourselves, taking the time to label what we're feeling and allowing it to be there. If we don't do that, we run the risk of reacting to a situation, rather than responding in a values-led way.