I heard Richard Branson on the Diane Rehm show, and he spoke about something extremely important for successful leadership: listening. I find Branson’s comments on listening to be spot-on:
“I think not enough business leaders know the art of
listening. They love to hear their own voices. And I was fortunate to learn
from a young age that other people — by listening to other people, you learn an
awful lot more than by listening to yourself.” — Richard Branson
From my experience, listening is a lost art. This
holds true particularly for leaders and entrepreneurs.
Why don’t leaders listen? Though Branson jokes that
they love to hear their own voices, there are two main reasons. For one, we are
never taught how to carefully listen. And secondly, society sets leaders and
entrepreneurs up to be expected to have all the answers.
In this clip from my interview with Cornell
University, I talk about the three levels of listening, and how leaders can develop
relationships and trust if they are able to use all three. I also talk about
how important it is for leaders to ask questions. Asking and listening go hand
in hand.
Do you find that you are good at fully listening to
others? Is listening to a challenge for you? I’d love to hear your ideas about
why listening may be difficult for leaders. Also, if you have experience
working on your listening skills, let us know what steps you have taken.
Read the full transcript of Richard Branson’s
interview on the Diane Rehm here.
Leave a comment below, send me an email, or find me on Twitter.
