How To Improve Your Active Listening Skills and Why It Matters

The first step to great leadership is your ability to communicate your goals and objectives to the people you have brought in to support and grow your business. It's possible that you believe you are already an exceptional communicator since you frequently interact with your team. However, talking is only one part of effective communication, and it may not even be the most significant part. The capability of a business leader to listen attentively can be considered the key to success.

It is commonly believed that people are good listeners. However, there's an important distinction between how and why one listens. Do you listen to understand, or do you listen to respond? If you're the type of communicator who is eagerly waiting for your turn to speak, then you're most likely a listening-to-respond communicator. Even if you haven't realised it yet, your team members have probably picked up on this trait.

Changing the way you communicate and modifying your communication style can be a difficult task. Chances are, the way you converse with others is not limited to only your business interactions. Your family and other significant people in your life have probably also noticed your communication patterns. If you are an active listener, they are aware of it, and if you are just looking for an opportunity to respond, they know that too.

To become a better listener, it's not enough to simply avoid interrupting or dominating conversations. You need to practice active listening, which can have a significant impact on the relationships that matter to you in your personal and professional life.

Why Active Listening Can Be So Challenging

Before embarking on your journey to better active listening skills, take a moment to reflect on the times that you failed to hear what someone said or misunderstood the context of what they were trying to share with you. What do you remember about your emotional state at that moment? Like most business owners, you were likely very busy, maybe more than a little stressed, or perhaps just not very interested in what that person had to say. In all these scenarios, you were unable to engage your active listening skills either by design or by just falling short in that moment.

Every overstretched business owner has been there, feeling like they don’t have one last ounce of patience or capacity left in them to hear out a conversation. But denying your ability to be an active listener, even when stressed or tired, isn’t fair to you or the people who surround and support you. It is also disrespectful and probably not reflective of the business leader who you want to be.

8 Ways to Be a Better Active Listener

Amping up those active listening skills is achievable but takes some focus.

1.       Be Present in the Moment. Eliminate distractions so you can give the speaker your full attention.

2.       Look Them in the Eye. Maintaining eye contact demonstrates that you are interested and engaged.

3.       Don’t Interrupt. Allow the person to explain the topic at their own pace.

4.       Listen to Understand. Don’t listen to respond. People know when you are just waiting for your turn to speak.

5.       Be Patient. Not everyone shares your communication style; let people express their thoughts in their own way and at their own pace.

6.       Be Empathetic. Particularly in charged or emotional situations, acknowledge the speaker’s feelings and express compassion for their interpretation when appropriate.

7.       Ask Clarifying Questions. Keep your queries open-ended and non-judgmental. Ask them to elaborate.

8.       Repeat What You’ve Heard. Paraphrasing helps the speaker know that you were listening, “So if I understand correctly, you are saying that you need more support in the stockroom.”

Business owners, give Active Listening a try. By practicing these techniques, you advance yourself as an empathetic communicator, you build stronger relationships with the team you have built, and you foster a culture of respect throughout your business.

We all have our unique communication styles. At The Alternative Board (TAB) we use DISC assessments to help our TAB Members communicate better with each other and throughout their businesses. And the impact is substantial. If you haven’t heard of DISC or are interested in learning more about the positive effects these assessments can have on your business, please feel free to reach out, comment, or DM me.