Why you need active listening as a leader

Active listening and the nature of leadership

The first thing you need to do in order to lead well is listen. And it’s a special kind of listening. In leadership roles, we can’t afford to pretend to listen. You know, in one ear and out the other. We can’t afford to listen and then forget by the next day. We can’t afford to listen solely to respond or to make a point in response to what someone is telling us. None of that. As leaders, we need to practice active listening.

Active listening refers to listening attentively to the speaker, making a deliberate effort to understand their perspective, and retaining what they’ve said. In other words, it means to understand the other person’s point without the intent of responding with your own perspective. This skill is a must-have in any leader’s toolbox.

In the simplest terms possible, you need active listening to perform well as a leader for your team, your peers, and your leaders. Outcomes are never guaranteed, but you can always control the actions you take in an effort to make the best outcomes more likely.

An effective leader works to meet their people’s needs, helps them achieve their performance goals as individuals and provides them with the guidance that they need to be the best contributor they can for their team and company.

How and why to apply active listening

Now that we’ve established the importance of active listening, let’s go through how you can apply it. The best way to go about active listening is to think of it as much more than just the act of receiving information. It’s a series of actions that you take while someone is speaking to you in order to understand and retain everything they are saying to you. Here are the five basic steps provided by Michigan State University that you can use to correctly apply active listening with anyone:

Pay attention

Pay close attention to the speaker and what they are conveying to you. Don’t let yourself be distracted with other work tasks, your electronics, another conversation, or anything else that might divide your attention away from the speaker. Let yourself hear what they are saying and thoughtfully consider their words rather than preparing your response as they are speaking. Your goal here is to gain their perspective, and nothing more.

Use non-verbal cues

Use your body language or cues to show that you are invested in what the speaker is saying. Simple head nods, expressions, and appropriate eye contact will let the speakers know that you are listening to them with an intent to understand.

Gain clarity

Respond to the speaker by paraphrasing their points to show that you understand. If there is some confusion on your end, ask them a question to get clarification on what exactly they mean. By showing your understanding and asking questions when you are confused, you show the speaker that you are listening in good faith and truly trying to take in what they are saying.

Avoid judgment

Allow the speaker to fully express their idea(s) before jumping in with a contribution. Don’t interrupt them with a hasty judgment, and don’t respond until they are fully done with the idea that they are expressing. Interruptions or quick judgments can and often do lead to continued misunderstanding, frustration, and an inability to continue the conversation productively.

Respond appropriately

Having taken in everything the speaker has said to you, respond with candor in a way that shows that you’ve understood their point of view to the best of your ability, and with dignity so that you can honor and respect them as a person.

Active listening is more than just a “soft skill,” it’s a superpower. It has a ton of tangible benefits, including, but not limited to:

An increase in psychological safety, one of the most important things you can have in your workplace

A superior ability to guide others in the right direction as a coach or a leader

An increased ability to facilitate understanding between people and teams

How you can use active listening

The beauty of active listening is that there are a truly unlimited number of ways that you can use it. You can use it with every single person that you interact with. With active listening, the likelihood that any given exchange of ideas will be both productive and pleasant is massively increased. But, to keep it grounded in leadership, let’s look at a few ways that you can apply it right now.

With your team

By practicing active listening with your team members, you can get a better understanding of exactly what they need from you. Whether they are stuck on a task, need guidance for a project, or just have something that’s been bothering them at the office, your team members are going to look to you for solutions.

With your peers

Within your organization, teams often work closely together to combine inputs, which creates a mutual reliance that requires close coordination and communication. When you actively listen to the needs of your peers, you can better ascertain what your team needs to do in order to support them or create efficiencies and opportunities across the organization.

With your leaders and mentors

These people are invested in your success. Most great leaders have a mentor that they can credit for a major part of how they learned to be effective. When your leader or mentor is speaking to you, make sure that you actively listen so that you can come away from every conversation with the value that they are trying to bring to you, and apply the lessons they teach you.

Active listening is much more than just a soft skill. It’s a tool that a leader can use in every conversation to guide their team members, support their peers, and understand their mentors better. Active listening can and will make a positive difference for you and everyone who interacts with you.