Listening to employees may be one of the most important fundamental
aspects of developing strong leadership skills. Without the ability to listen
it is also unlikely that a person will be able to gain enough environmental
awareness to effectively lead others to new heights. According to a study
conducted by Kluger and Zaidel (2013), leaders develop from their listening
skills and different kinds of leader’s emphasis what they are listening for.
It has been argued that only leaders who are willing to listen will be
able to create enough candid discussion to develop and grow their businesses.
It is through understand the essential roots of messages that it is possible
for leaders to understand their environments and ensure that their messages are
being received appropriately. Without appropriate reception mistakes, misunderstandings,
and conflicts can occur.
The development of
leadership requires a level of listening (Avolio, 2011). Without listening it
is hard for people to understand their environments, the needs of people, and
their abilities to influence those environments. Listening ensures that the
leader is receiving a level of feedback to help them assess appropriate courses
of action.
Listening can also
lead to social power (Cheng, et. al., 2013). From an evolutionary perspective
one can gain power by intimidating others or by gaining prestige and respect.
Listening gains a level of respect but in and of itself does not lead to
dominance. However, the information one gains from listening may lead to
dominance of when decisions are more influential.
Of course listening
is not a single sort of concept. Some leaders have developed skills in listening
for interpersonal information while others are better at listing for technical
content (Bodie & Worthington, 2010). In many ways this relates to the
approach of people based or action based approaches to influence.
The researchers
used 238 Israeli employees from the age of 21-54. They found that perceptions
of employee were broken down into constructive and destructive listening. A
focus on listening to facts only appears to be correlated highly with
destructive listening and this was associated more with leaders who rely on
structure. Listening to the needs of the person was more associated with
personal influence. The results also further lend support that those with
strong listening skills are more likely to develop effective leadership skills.
Listening is the
root of all social skills. Without listening it is hard to understand others,
their needs, their desires, their cravings, and their wants. Of course, if you
do not understand the nature of people you cannot possibly lead effectively.
One can be limited by a lack of social awareness and understanding. Those who
seek only facts from listening are often perceived as destructive and heavy
users of social structure while those who listen to the person’s needs are
considered more constructive. Effective listening requires the ability to
empathize with the person while not ignoring the facts of the conversation. Both
needs and facts can create an effective way of encouraging others to perform at
a higher level.
Avolio, B. (2011). Full range leadership development (2nd
ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Bodie,
G., & Worthington, D. (2010). Revisiting the Listening Styles Profile
(LSP-16): A confirmatory factor analytic approach to scale validation and
reliability estimation. International Journal of Listening, 24,
69–88.
Cheng,
et. al. (2013). Two ways to the top: Evidence that dominance and prestige are
distinct yet viable avenues to social rank and influence. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 104, 103–125.
Cluger, A. & Zaidel, K. (2013). Are listeners perceived as leaders?
International Journal of Listening, 27 (2).
