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.