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The Discipline of ListeningAs the up-and-coming vice president and CEO candidate for a Fortune 500 technologycorporation sat before the CEO for his annual review, he was baffled to discover that thefeedback from his peers, customers, direct reports, and particularly from board membersplaced unusual emphasis on one potentially devastating problem: his listening deficit.

This executive was widely considered among the best and brightest in his company, but itwas evident that this issue needed immediate attention if he ever hoped to advance to thetop spot.He wasn't alone in that regard. My knowledge of corporate leaders' 360-degree feedback indicates that one out of four of them has a listening deficit the effects of which canparalyze cross-unit collaboration, sink careers, and if it's the CEO with the deficit, derailthe company. But this doesn't have to be the case. Despite today's fast-paced businessenvironment, time-starved leaders can master the art of disciplined listening.Conventional advice for better listening is to be emotionally intelligent and available.However, truly good listening requires far more than that. As you move toward trulyempathetic listening, consider these tips:

Pan for the nuggets. I saw how Larry Bossidy, former CEO of Honeywell, did this.Sitting down with a business unit leader presenting him with information about a $300million dollar technical investment opportunity, Bossidy divided a sheet of paper aboutthree-quarters across. On the larger left side of the paper, he scribbled detailed notes; onthe smaller right side, he occasionally jotted down two or three words, capturing what heperceived to be the key insights and issues being brought to his attention. It was a simpletechnique that disciplined him to listen intently for the important content and focusfollow-up questions on points that really mattered. Whether or not this is your method,you should train yourself to sift for the nuggets in a conversation. Then let the otherperson know that they were understood by probing, clarifying, or further shaping thosethoughts. The benefits of this go beyond ensuring that you heard it right: first, the person

on the other end of the conversation will be gratified that you are truly grasping theessence of their thoughts and ideas; second, this gratification will motivate and energizethem to create more thoughts and solutions. Listening opens the door to truly connectingand is the gateway to building relationships and capability.Consider the Source. When working with peers, in and across teams, work to understandeach person's frame of reference where they are coming from. This is extremelyimportant when disagreements arise. When you truly understand the perspective of others, you are most likely to reach productive solutions; further, all the participants willfeel heard, whether their solution is adopted or not. Even better, it's likely that thesolution will not turn out to be one that was brought to the table by any one party; it willbe a new approach crafted in the conversational environment you created. Active

listening and probing (with humility, not aggression) energizes groups, encourages themto reach consensus, and helps them arrive at new and better solutions.Consider Ivan Seidenberg, who rose to become Chairman and CEO of Verizon. Earlier inhis career, as a business unit manager, he recognized that he must cut costs. But hisdivision's operations department was adamant it could not be done given the tremendouscomplexity of its processes. Seidenberg understood their frame of reference, which wasthat they were in favor of simplification, but couldn't achieve it without the collaborationof the product departments. Seidenberg got the two sides to collaborate and much better

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solutions were found. Not only were costs cut, but operations became more focused andsimplified.Prime the Pump. After GE achieved its goal of being first or second in several of itsbusinesses with exceptional margins, then-CEO Jack Welch faced the challenge of howto spur continued growth. He actively listened to a Business Management Course team at

GE's Crotonville learning center. They suggested that, if a GE business had become thebiggest fish in its pond, it was thinking about the pond too narrowly. The definition of themarket needed to be changed based on an expanded understanding of its customers'needs. As business unit managers prepared their next round of strategy presentations forthe Chairman, Welch told them all to redefine their market in such a way that their sharewas less than 10 percent. This released GE managers' energy to grow their businesseswith new ideas. One of those ideas was to grow the services businesses across GE.Today, GE has a $200 billion backlog in its services business.Slow Down. There is a reason that, over the years, you have lost your ability to listen. Itfeels too passive, like the opposite of action. It's much faster to move to a decision basedon the information you already have. But in doing so, you miss important considerations

and sacrifice the opportunity to connect. Understand that as you begin to change yourlistening style to a more empathetic one, you may often feel inefficient. It takes time totruly hear someone and to replay the essence of their thoughts back them so that bothparties are clear on what was said. The payback is dramatic, but it comes over the longrun.

Keep Yourself Honest. No habit is broken without discipline, feedback, and practice. Aswell as installing a personal mirror to reflect on your own behavior, find a colleague togive you honest feedback on how well you are tuning into the thoughts and ideas of yourcolleagues, managers, board of directors, and others. Explicitly lay out an exercise regimeby which you will practice empathetic listening every day and strengthen your skills.Make a habit of asking yourself after interactions whether you understood the essence of what was said to you, the person's point of view, their context, and their emotion. Alsoask yourself whether that person knows that they were heard and understood.For leaders, listening is a central competence for success. At its core, listening isconnecting. Your ability to understand the true spirit of a message as it is intended to becommunicated, and demonstrate your understanding, is paramount in formingconnections and leading effectively. This is why, in 2010, General Electric longconsidered the preeminent company for producing leaders redefined what it seeks in itsleaders. Now it places "listening" among the most desirable traits in potential leaders.Indeed, GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt have said that "humble listening" is amongthe top four characteristics in leaders.Truly empathetic listening requires courage the willingness to let go of the old habitsand embrace new ones that may, at first, feel time-consuming and inefficient. But onceacquired, these listening habits are the very skills that turn would-be leaders into trueones.