Why Active Listening Makes You a Better Leader

Do you think you are a good listener? Would your team agree with you?

Good listening goes far beyond… well, listening. Good listening involves many types of listening skills, but practicing active listening is excellent for those in leadership positions. 

To truly listen to someone means listening with all of your senses and giving the speaker your full attention. It’s more than just hearing someone speak—it means actually LISTENING and comprehending what is being said. 

Being an active listener means you recognize the conversation is more about the speaker than about you, even when it doesn’t feel that way. You’re fully engaged with what the other person is saying when you listen actively.

Too often, staff feels like leadership doesn’t listen to their comments or concerns. Practicing active listening helps your team feel valued and heard. It can also improve your relationships while building trust. 

What Exactly is Active Listening and How Can it Help Your Team?

Active listening is a valuable skill that can take time to develop, especially for those in leadership positions, but the benefits are worth it. It can teach you to listen to understand, not just to respond. It helps you understand someone’s point of view and enables you to respond with empathy.

Active listening involves the process of listening intently while someone else speaks to you, and practicing it can have many positive impacts on you and your team. You can practice active listening no matter where you are, whether it’s at work, home, or in social settings. 

When you practice active listening at work, it helps you understand and address problems as they are happening and allows you to collaborate to develop solutions. Techniques like reflecting body language and asking questions help you create positive relationships with your staff and inform you when problems may arise. It also demonstrates your patience which is a valuable asset in any workplace. 

When you practice active listening, you:

• Improve communication

• Increase collaboration

• Practice empathy

• Establish trust and rapport

Tips to Improve Your Active Listening Skills

As a leader, active listening is a great tool to empower your employees and make sure they feel heard. You can ensure they feel supported by listening intently and replaying what you’re hearing back to your team members. 

Listed below are some techniques to use to improve your active listening skills: 

Pay Attention and Mirror the Speaker

A simple way to improve your active listening skills is to watch skilled interviewers on TV and emulate what they do. Pay attention to the speaker through facial expressions, body language, and gestures. 

Whoever is speaking deserves to be heard. You would want the same if it were you. When practicing active listening, you shouldn’t be doing a lot of the talking. Instead, mirror the speaker's nonverbal behavior. 

To show you are engaged and receptive to what you are hearing, use open, non-threatening body language. That means no folding your arms or tapping your foot, instead smile and nod when appropriate. Pay attention to the expressions on your face and avoid expressions that the speaker can take negatively. Put away your phone, make eye contact, and stop thinking about all the meetings you have later in the day.

Ask Open-Ended Questions

If you want your staff to feel heard when they speak to you, ask open-ended questions. Doing this shows that you are engaged with and interested in what they are saying and encourages meaningful conversations. 

If you don’t understand something that is said, ask for clarification. Show your staff that you are interested in what they say. Summarize what you’ve heard or think you’ve heard. Mirroring what someone says helps the speaker feel understood.

Be Patient and Don’t Interrupt

Some people take longer to process things, and that’s okay! Don’t interrupt someone because you think you know what they’re going to say. That also means you can’t interrupt someone to say, “oh, that reminds me of the time….”

Most importantly, don’t start formulating your reply before your staff has even finished speaking. You never know if the last thing they say will change the entire meaning of what they’re saying. 

As someone in the leadership position, you’re here to act as a sounding board. Changing the subject after someone finishes a thought conveys impatience and boredom, two enemies of active listening. 

Active Listening at Work, Even If You Work Remotely

If you are working remotely, turn on the webcam and actively listen to the people in the meetings with you. Take in what they’re saying—that means don’t write emails on the side or multitask, but instead means asking open-ended questions. 

Ask open-ended questions like: 

• Why is that? 

• Tell me more. 

• Why do you think that might have happened? 

• What could have been a different result if we had done it differently. 

Make it a practice of asking open-ended questions. You'll start uncovering not just the problem but also get into the root of the situation where you can begin problem-solving and innovating.

Active listening is an important social skill that has value in many settings. As a leader, this not only benefits you but your entire firm. Practice it often, and it will become second nature.