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Active Listening

The Pathwayz Group

Creating Pathwayz to Develop Leaders for the Future

发布日期: 2024年9月17日

Too often, we focus on getting our message heard in a noisy world but not enough on effective listening in a distracting world.

The most captivating listener I have had the honor of working with was a man by the name of Dr. John. I was in an executive leadership position with Dr. John, and we had the pleasure of having monthly one-on-ones and board meetings together. I noticed Dr. John does a few things to listen in his meetings proactively.

First, he was proactive by clearing distractions like muting notifications on phones, laptops, and other interaction methods, either by not bringing them to meetings or moving away to less distracting areas of his office space.

Some may hear that and think, "Okay, I do that too." But he did something else to be fully present in these meetings and enhance his listening that I'd not seen done at this level before. I noticed that he didn't bring a notepad to take notes. He was fully present, taking note of the mood and body language and fully listening to everything happening in the meeting. Keep in mind that some of these meetings were an hour long!

He would ask powerful questions based on his understanding of the dynamics. Prompting questions like, "Can you tell me more? Can you expand? Please explain." Also, specific questions like, "When you said that you wanted quicker response times, do you mean within the day or the hour?" He continued by encouraging further conversation with a silent nudge. The silence typically nudges the other person to give further information and expand.

After the meeting, he would immediately leave his desk to write up a summary of what we discussed and his understanding of the interaction. I was always amazed at his accurate and in-depth understanding of our conversations, and I could efficiently clarify any misunderstandings or gaps. He didn't seek to add any additional dialogue at this time but rather approached the repeated message with the intent of further clarification and understanding.

This mindful, intentional, and practiced active listening resulted in better understanding, better questions, and more effective outcomes. Here's what I want you to do next time you are in a conversation: clear distractions, be mindful, and seek to understand. Be intentional to effectively listen in a distracting world.