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

Ropella Leadership Transformation

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www.Ropella.com850.983.4777