Why is active listening an important practice to be successful leader

Jignesh Barasara – Leaders all over the globe are known to redefine and shape everything from people, communities to organisations and nations. Therefore, it is indispensable to have good leaders to help guide us and make the much required decisions to bring about required and innovative changes that would  keep the world moving.

When it comes to being a good leader, it is of vital importance that you lead the way for other’s growth as well. And, you can only help others grow when you actually listen to what they are looking for, what their opinion is all about. This is where active listening comes into play.

Active listening

Active listening in its simplest term is the ability to listen to others, understand what they are actually saying and respond accordingly. This is an extremely crucial skill, when it comes to being a leader. Active listening is one of those qualities that separates an average manager from a world class leader.

A transparent and effective communication between leader and team member is what sets the bond and lays the foundation of trust. When there is an open communication between leader and team member, the chances of developing any kind of miscommunication and grudge reduces to a lot of extent.

This in turn encourages the team members to share their inputs and enhance productivity. This also leads to better employee engagement. When it comes to practising active listening as a leader, its not only limited to listening. It’s about making sure that your employees are actually being heard.

In order to ensure the same, you need to make sure that when your team member is speaking to you, they have your undivided attention. Some ways of doing the same are shutting your laptop screen, putting your phone on silent and providing timely response to your employees.

Listening is most powerful tool

Listening is one of the most powerful tools you possess as a leader. But, at the same time It’s quite understandable that in today’s workplace era, where almost everything has gone digital, active listening can actually be a difficult task to achieve. We are continuously flooded with tons of information and every other piece of information seems to be more attention seeking than the last one.  Amidst all of your countless meetings, it becomes almost impossible to keep a track of every employee’s opinions on a daily basis, if you are not practising active listening. Below listed are some of the ways given by Jignesh Barasara, as a business entrepreneur that would help you to practise active listening effectively as a leader.

1) Start by limiting distractions.This means closing your laptop, muting your phone, so you can give your undivided attention to your employee. Understanding your team of course is more important than those thousand meetings.

2)In our normal daily interactions, most of us are just waiting for our chance to talk and be heard. But, most of the time we forget that in order to be heard, we must hear the other person first. It requires patience to listen first, before expressing yourself. Never break out of the flow of giving a response, when the other person is still responding. Instead, take the time to listen to what the other person is saying.

3)Jignesh Barasara – active listening, it’s critical that your employees feel free to speak their minds. To facilitate this, always make sure that you are not too quick to offer advice, and leave judgement.

Conclusion:-

Active listening enables you to develop better understanding between you and your employees and therefore helps you to become a better leader.