Listening Is An Underrated Leadership Tool

As leaders, every action we take either develops or deteriorates trust. One of the most powerful ways to build trust is through listening.

(Forbes) A recent research study of hundreds of Glassdoor reviews found that the No. 1 aspect contributing to high or low employer reviews was the level of trust in leadership. At a time when one-third of senior leaders list finding and retaining top talent their most significant managerial challenge, leaders cannot ignore the importance of fostering trust.

A great place to start is with listening.

Listening may be the most overlooked of all leadership skills. As simple as it sounds, listening is a skill, an art and a discipline. When done well, it fosters an environment of safety and demonstrates mutual respect, leading to higher levels of engagement among employees.

The more I endeavor to make listening a priority in my own leadership style, the more aware I become of the tremendous discipline required to create time and space for it. In today’s fast-paced work environment, leaders must be hypervigilant to connect one-on-one with team members. Yet, with the talent war raging, employers cannot afford to neglect to build real interpersonal connections with their team.

Over time, I’ve noticed that great leaders infuse the following deliberate practices into their management activities. These are tools I strive to utilize to connect with my team on a daily basis.

Ask open-ended questions.

The leaders I respect most ask a lot of questions. I believe they do this for three primary reasons:

• To learn. By asking a lot of questions, you learn about many things, including trends, technology, the real status of a project, what’s going on in the rumor mill, etc.

• To show respect and empower their team. Asking someone’s opinion or perspective is a big sign of respect that empowers them to step up and lead.

• To coach. Lastly, by listening to the opinions of your team, you also then have a chance to help coach them and better inform their thinking in areas where they may not have experience or the right point of view.

Create space and time.

Active listening takes practice and requires undistracted time. I’ve learned to ask myself, “How can I make time to connect one-on-one with my team this week?” Often that requires planning, fighting against the tyranny of the urgent and even getting out of the office to meet one-on-one.

I’ve always had an open-door policy, but lately, I’ve gotten in the habit of working at the small conference table that is directly in front of my office door rather than my desk, which is positioned out of sight from the hallway. Choosing to be more visible and approachable does welcome interruptions, but it has also dramatically increased that amount of ad-hoc connections I’m able to make with employees. This enables people at all levels of the firm to feel the freedom to pop in and introduce themselves or ask a question.

I also schedule time to meet with people at different levels, offices and parts of our business to get to know them better and seek their input, understand how my other messages are resonating with them and their teams, and learn about their vision for the company and their career.

Seek feedback frequently

Simply making yourself available to listen is only half the battle, albeit a difficult one. In order to engage with all types of team members — especially the quieter, more reserved types — it’s critical to solicit feedback often. This is usually accomplished by asking for feedback from the team in an informal way, like after a meeting with a client. But we also like to conduct more formal 360-degree reviews sometimes to gather feedback from multiple people and identify blind spots and other areas to improve.

As an organization, we conduct two companywide surveys per year and host all-hands meetings monthly that always start with Q&A sessions. This practice has helped us identify and address improvement opportunities on an organizational level.

Engage on a personal level.

As important as it is to seek team member feedback and perspectives regarding work-related topics, it’s just as valuable to seek to understand one another on a personal level.

In his book Connection Culture, Michael Lee Stallard posits that having employees who feel connected gives a company an advantage over their competition, because when employees are engaged, they are more productive and less likely to flee to a competing company.

For me, these connections happen in the elevator, at happy hours and most significantly during our annual company trip. Often the financial investment in culture-building activities like a three-day company trip to Mexico doesn’t make sense on a balance sheet, but the benefit of investing in relationships and making memories as a team significantly outweighs the cost.

Seek to understand their unique goals and passions.

Finally, I’ve learned that one of the best ways to invest in my direct reports is to seek to understand their unique goals and passions. Helping people transition or grow into roles that fit their strengths and interests, while also providing the right amount of challenge, is one of the most effective ways to retain top talent. The only way to help someone reach their full potential is to seek to understand where they want to go and what drives them. This requires listening.

In the end, we all want to cultivate environments where top talent can thrive. If leadership is the magnet that attracts and retains top talent, we cannot neglect practices that help us develop into greater, more connected leaders — even practices like listening that may feel tedious. As much as technology connects us, there is no more powerful form of communication than two people listening to each other.

Justin Bell is the President of the management and technology consulting firm Credera.