Great Leaders Listen..

Leaders are all knowing. Leaders have perfected the minute details of their jobs. Leaders can step in and do the job better than their employees. Leaders don’t make mistakes.

Most people will already know that everything in the first paragraph is BS. The problem is that some employees actually have a similar, although maybe not as extreme, view of leaders in the workplace. Even more troubling is that some people in leadership roles also have those views. They may not think they’re perfect in everything, but they think being perfect is what’s expected of them. Either way, it’s wrong.

Leaders weren’t born with more knowledge or leadership ability, and they didn’t take PED’s to develop their strength. Leaders grew into who they are by listening to those around them. Ask any great leader, odds are they had a mentor and more often than not they’ll have had several. The point of having a mentor is asking, listening and learning. So the question is, why do some of us stop listening when we find ourselves in a leadership role.

Take a look at your companies employee surveys, or look up a few companies online. I’m willing to bet you’ll find “I don’t feel my voice is heard” as a common complaint. But why is that?

1. Employees have a hard time choosing the right time and way to express their opinions on matters that appear “bigger” than them.
2. Employees don’t voice frustration when certain decisions are made until they can’t take it anymore and have an outburst of emotion.
3. Employees voice their opinions repeatedly and see no change or feel their words fell on deaf ears.

It’s impossible to foster a successful environment as a leader if you aren’t making every effort to ensure that none of the above is true.

1. It’s YOUR job to teach your people how and when to professionally get their point across on any issue no matter how big.
2. It’s YOUR job to check in with each and every employee and encourage them to open up about the groups direction.
3. It’s YOUR job to listen and take every employees words to heart.
4. It’s YOUR job to make every effort to address the issue they bring up, even if their idea is impossible and you have to seek an alternative solution.

It’s your responsibility as a leader to make sure every employees voice is heard.

We stop learning when we stop listening.

Check out this article going over the Listening Cycle for Leaders.

1. Listen to your people.
2. Listen you your clients
3. Listen to the data
4. Listen to your gut
5. Benchmark
6. Plan
7. Implement