Three Brain Synergy Blog

Leaders come in different sizes and shapes and their approach to leadership varies from one leader to the other. The style of leadership that is most effective today is one of facilitator or coach, rather than directive, especially for the younger generation entering the workforce.

 This weeks (September 28th) leadership and team development question is:

How does a leader get his team to improve performance by utilizing the qualities and strengths of each person?

Post your comments here or in our member's forum. Log in as a member or register for free.

Our last question of the week was on ''How does active listening differ from just good listening skills?''

Here is the answer from Fritz Glaus along with a video below.

This question requires one to do a little thinking, and it turns out that a lengthy answer is needed. After reflection, one realizes that the difference is rather subtle, in that active listening is a prerequisite for good listening, whereas the opposite cannot be said with the same logic, i.e. it cannot be said that good listening is a prerequisite for active listening.

Most persons do not recognize this difference because superficially they tend to see good listening and active listening as equivalents. The fact is being ignored that active listening is a technique that requires one to go through the following precise steps:

1. Listen carefully and then reflect (repeat) in your own words what the other person said
2. Wait for confirmation from the other person that the message you think you were given is really what he meant to convey
3. Continue the conversation and express your own view 

This means two things. One, in active listening the listener needs to be patient, as his own view is given only as a third step. This is very hard to do for many leaders, as they are usually action types who tend to be directive, who want to convey their message first, and who above all want the other person to listen. Second, whereas in standard ‘’good listening’’ one assumes that one understands perfectly the message expressed by the other person, in active listening one needs to double-check with the other person to make sure that the meaning one thinks was contained in his message is really the same as the one he intended.

 

You can also listen to the audio recording of the tele-seminar from September 24th on the subject of active listening and how it affects leadership and teamwork. During the call we explained how different types of people have different challenges when it comes to listening well.

 

 

Good listening skills are essential for good leadership and to develop teamwork in a department and across services. According to Fritz Glaus everyone can develop good listening skills but the challenge may be different for various types of people and leaders.

Here is the leadership and team development question for the week of September 14, 2009

 ''How does active listening differ from just good listening skills?''

Last week’s leadership and team development question was

How do listening skills affect the quality of leadership?

Here is the answer from Fritz Glaus along with a video of more in-depth answer.

Leaders who possess good listening skills are capable of practicing participative leadership and of developing highly motivated teams which consistently demonstrate outstanding productivity, initiative, and creativity. 

Discussion 

As discussed on another occasion, it is unfortunate that only a small minority of leaders are good listeners. You will recall that the reason for this is that most persons in leadership positions are put there not because they have a participative leadership style but because, first, they are able to make quick decisions and second, they direct their managers and other persons in their organization to carry out their decisions. In other words, they have a directive style of leadership, or an action style, which is a style that unfortunately develops ‘’yes men’’ and ‘’yes women’’ who only give the impression of having initiative and of being decisive themselves, when in reality they are self-protective, always making sure they don’t do anything their boss might dislike. 

Fortunately, there is a growing minority of directive style leaders who have discovered the concept of participative leadership and who realize that by cultivating the habit of listening to others they can develop teams of increasing productivity, initiative, and creativity. These leaders aim to free themselves increasingly from the drudgery of being in charge of all operational details and of having to continually check up on others to make sure they are doing as they are told. 

ThreeBrainSynergy has developed ways to help leaders who want to become better listeners and to practice a more participative leadership style; in short who want to enable themselves to create more effective teamwork in their organization. 

 

ThreeBrainSynergy e-learning provides tools designed for this purpose, showing both how to sensitize others towards the concept of participative leadership and how to coach them as required

FREE TELE-SEMINAR SEPTEMBER 24TH

 This month’s tele-seminar on Active Listening – What it is and how to use it to prevent people problems is Thursday September 24^th at 2:00 PM EST. Register for free now.

You can improve your understanding of participative leadership by joining in the discussion of the leadership and team development question of the week. Perhaps you want to know what participative leadership is and why it is so important to drive high performance in organizations.

 

Real teamwork in organizations where people are highly engaged in their work and take initiative to solve problems is driven by a participative leadership style.

 

This leader who uses a participative style of leadership involves his team members in most decisions or entrusts them to make decisions on their own. This can only happen if the leader develops his direct reports to do their job autonomously and solve problems on their own.

 

Each week we are providing a question and answer of the week regarding participative leadership and team development. By participating in the discussion you will further your understanding of participative leadership, team development and types of people.

 

Here is the leadership and team development question for the week of September 8, 2009.

 

How do listening skills affect the quality of leadership?

 

Join the discussion by posting your answer here or better still in our Basic Members forum. Register as a basic member for free now and enjoy all the benefits including the Three Brain Synergy know-yourself e-learning introduction program.

 

Here is the answer to last week’s (August 31, 2009) question by Fritz Glaus which was;

How does one implement a participative leadership style when s/he is just new in the position, the relationships have not been developed, and business needs to keep moving forward ?

 

 

Answer

Implementing a participative leadership style is something that can only be done over time. The person who is new in a position needs first to familiarize her/himself with the state of participative leadership practice and awareness in the new context and second  to gradually cultivate her/his new relationships, both with the persons who will be reporting to her/him and with her/his superior.

 

You can also view a video interview with Fritz answering the question here.

 

 

 

ThreeBrainSynergy e-learning provides tools designed for this purpose, showing both how to sensitize others towards the concept of participative leadership and how to coach them as required

 

This month’s tele-seminar on Active Listening – What it is and how to use it to prevent people problems is Thursday September 24^th at 2:00 PM EST. Register for free now.