Effective Bosses Know How To Listen

During those seminally important seven days in history, when He gave us two ears and one mouth, God was undoubtedly emphasizing that listening is more important than talking.

Q. In your last column you offered some tips on improving communication. I’d like to see more attention given to the art of listening. Too few of us have mastered that gift, don’t you agree?

A. I’m listening, and I hear you loud and clear. Nothing has ever been learned by talking.

Listening is especially important in a business environment where many good ideas come from unexpected sources. The unmined treasure in every enterprise is its work force, those industrious individuals who work daily with customers, vendors, and other employees, all the while discovering new ideas and techniques that could benefit the firm.

The problem is that most of what these people learn walks out the door with them at the end of the day. If only someone with management clout would listen to what they’ve seen, heard, and learned while working, the company would be a far better place.

But not enough bosses are attuned to the value of listening. The only communication skill we are taught as youngsters is how to talk. It seems that parents just can’t wait for that first word. I guess it’s assumed that our pre-natal experiences teach us everything we’ll need to know about listening. A bad assumption that most of us will pay dearly for during the rest of our lives.

According to management guru Peter Drucker, the most valuable asset in a firm is the collective knowledge of its employees. But to realize that value, the people in an organization have to be able to share that knowledge.

That means “them that’s got it” have to be able to give it to “them that don’t.” And that transaction requires two-way communication between inspired transmitters and welcome receivers.

One of the early presidents of 3M Corp., William McKnight, told his colleagues some 70 years ago: “Listen to anyone with an original idea, no matter how absurd it may sound at first. Encourage; don’t nit-pick.”

Good advice even today.

It is a corporate leader’s job to encourage and reward feedback, to effectively debrief those workers who are in the best position to see and evaluate what the firm is doing and to generate ideas and suggestions as to how that performance can be improved.

Too often, however, it’s difficult for workers to find a receptive ear. In most firms there are no well-established, endorsed routines for easily connecting with people with influence who could, by listening carefully, help the firm benefit from what an employee has to say.

Japanese workers each submit an average of 32.4 ideas per year, while in the U.S. the comparable rate is 0.17 ideas per annum (less than one-fifth of an idea per year). Maybe this dramatic difference is due to the fact that in Japan, the proffered ideas enjoy an acceptance rate of 87 percent, while in the U.S. the implementation rate is only 32 percent.

Receptive leaders encourage feedback by serving as proactive, attentive, appreciative listeners. They explore what their followers have to say and ask questions. They aren’t judgmental but are ready to offer constructive criticism and will readily explain why they will or will not take action on the ideas submitted.

Too many business managers say, “I have an open door policy,” while their actions suggest that “no one had better wander in here by mistake.”

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The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Paul Willax The Spokesman-Review