Are you listening?
What happens when we stop listening? And I don't mean hear, I mean listen. The difference? When we hear, we hear without thought, reason or knowledge we just pick up what is around us at any given moment, the sound comes and it goes and that's it, we simply hear. But when we listen all manner of things change, we tune into our environment, we take on board what is around us, we ask questions and we become aware.
How many senior leaders listen, are aware and ask questions, and how many simply hear gloss over and assume? That's the difference between someone listening, to one who just hears what they want to hear and disregards the rest. If we are simply hearing, then are we at risk of losing our way, becoming one without reason and one drifting in a sea of opportunity and not knowing which course to take.
Listening is a skill and yet one which is not often taught or engaged. Leaders that take the time to listen to what is being said start to become aware and will be able to make sound judgments and make correct decisions based on the information they are receiving. The leader that only hears will make assumptions, their decisions will be made on hearsay and not on fact. They won't ask questions and will not be aware of their organisational wants and needs which leads to poor and weak leadership.
As we move from one difficult year to another, which style will your organisation endorse? One which will prepare you to listen and switch off the background noise so you can make the correct decisions. Or the other style that says I don't have time to invest in listening as I already know the answers to everything so I will carry on making assumptions and implant the organisation with the wrong behaviours and beliefs.