The Many Benefits to Mastering Your Listening Skills

S.U.A.L


Of all the skills the best leaders possess , the most important one – in my opinion – is the ability to listen effectively.


When you listen effectively, you learn the right information. The right information is everything you, as the leader, need to properly assess a situation and in turn, make the right decision to get the right things done. Plus, listening effectively sends the message that “you care.”

Listening is a difficult skill to learn and master because it requires you to use your very best effort and focus to:

  • Sort through the clutter and emotion that often is associated with some conversations.
  • Ignore the distractions that are a part of all our days.
  • Eliminate all the unnecessary and unsolicited opinions of those involved.
  • Get the right facts.

  • There is an old expression “There are two sides to every story and then there’s the truth.” That sums up the challenges associated with being able to listen effectively.

    A technique that I used to remind myself of the importance of listening was to write “S.U.A.L.” at the top of the page of my pad that I was using to take notes when in a meeting or 1-on-1 conversations. S.U.A.L. stood for “ S hut U p A nd L isten”. For me, it was a simple but important reminder that as the leader my job was to ask the best questions and carefully “listen” to the answers.

    Related: Your People Are Watching You

    There are many benefits to mastering your listening skills. Two important ones that come to mind are:

  • You learn what customers and clients are saying about your products and services; what they like and want more of; what they dislike and what makes them happy.
  • You learn from your team members what they think is important; what they believe they can do to be more productive; what changes they think should be made to improve your products and the overall customer service experience.

  • It doesn’t cost you a dime to learn how to listen better, but the rewards can create significant value for you, your team and your customers . Make the time to become a better listener – right now. Are you listening to me?