The First Leadership SkillCol Harry LeBoeuf, USAF (ret)
Listening
Do you consider yourself a good Listener?
A) Yes
B) No
The primary goal of leadership communication
is to reach understanding, not agreement.
A) True
B) False
“The #1 skill of the 21st century leader is listening.”
Peter DruckerAuthor & Management Guru
“99% of the best ideas we ever had came from our people.”
Sam Walton,Founder, Walmart
Listening Self-Assessment
Do others consider you a good listener?
A) Yes
B) Not Sure
C) No
8 Reasons Listening is Critical
to Effective Leadership
1. 5.2. 6.3. 7.4. 8.
Top 5 Leadership Listening Pitfalls
1. Pride2. Know it all3. Don’t have the time4. Think others are idiots5. Don’t care
How can you tell?
1. When others ARE carefully listening to you?
2. When others are NOT listening to you?
95% of communication misunderstanding is the
sender’s fault.A) True
B) False
Three Levels of Transformational Listening
1. Listen with your Ears
2. Listen with your Eyes
3. Listen for the Voice
A) Listen with your Ears
1. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
2.
3.
4.
5.
1. __ l __ i __ s __ t __ e __ n __
2. Noah was on the ark
3. Match
4. White – it’s a Polar Bear
5. Answer = 2
A) Listen with your Ears
B) Listen with your Eyes
Non-verbal CuesSpace (Proxemics)Time (Chronemics)Touch (Haptics)Body Language (Kinesics)
C) Listen for the Voice
1. Rate – fastness or slowness
2. Pitch – highness or lowness
3. Volume – softness or loudness
4. Tone – overall quality
Ten Things Great Listeners Do
1. Listen for Ideas
2. Focus
3. Minimize Distractions
4. Take Notes & follow-up
5. Ask Clarifying questions
Ten Things Great Listeners Do (con’t)
6. Listen for Core themes
7. Ignore loaded words
8. Think while you listen
9. Keep an Open Mind
10. Interrupt only to clarify
My Action PlanList 2-3 actions to take your
ListeningTo a Higher Level
Envision
Do you consider yourself a visionary?
A) Yes
B) No
“A task without a vision is drudgery.A vision without a task is but a dream.
But a task with a vision is the hope of the world.”
Inscription circa 1770Church in Sussex, England
Two Keys to Envisioning
1. Clarify
2. Connect
What are clarifying questions?
They are questions you can use to help bring out additional information on a topic, clarify how someone feels about a topic, or further explain a complex idea.
What are some examples?
Clarifying Questions
How does this fulfill the needs of those we serve?
How will be measure our progress?
What are our top priorities?
What are the first steps we must take?
What are the alternatives available to us?
Two Keys to Envisioning
1. Clarify
2. Connect
“The role of a leader is to find a thousand different ways to say
the same thing.”
Harry Quadracci, FounderQuad Graphics
“The role of a leader is to find a thousand different ways to say
the same thing.”
Harry Quadracci, FounderQuad Graphics
PREP Connection Model
Point: Where we are going?
Reason(s): Why we are going there?
Example(s): What must happen?
Point: Restate/reinforce the where?
My Action Plan
List 2-3 actions to take your
EnvisioningTo a Higher Level
Ropella Leadership Transformation
ROPELLA can help you improve productivity and the bottom line, as well as the morale and loyalty of your employees. We can give your organization a true “line-of-sight” communication from the boardroom to the front line.
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www.Ropella.com850.983.4777