Along with effective communication, a good leader knows how to provide active listening to their people so that it can improve their work performance. If the leader is judgmental towards their employees, this will make the employees feel afraid of communicating with their leaders. That can lead to poor work productivity and team dysfunction.
Here is how effective listening can make you a strong team leader:
Listening increases your capacity as a leader:
Active listening is one of the important traits that a leader should follow to make their employees feel valued and comfortable. Effective listening can help in gaining more knowledge and perspectives from other people that can help in increasing the leadership capacity. A good leader will encourage their people to share their ideas and issues without any barrier that can help the leader in growing their leadership qualities.
Listening shows you care:
When a leader provides active listening to their people, they will become comfortable in sharing their issues with the leader. When you actually listen to others it will help you to understand their emotions more clearly and you will be able to empathize with their feelings. Effective listening can create a work environment of trust and your people will also show interest in listening to your commands.
Listening helps you comprehend the situation:
It is very for a leader to show proper attention to what their employees say so that they can understand the seriousness of the situation. If a leader provides advice or recommendation to their people without completely understanding what their issues are, it will ineffective and can cause confusion in the employees.
Listening helps you better understand your business:
Active listening can provide a better understanding of your business and also helps you in understanding the important needs of your employees, customers, and potential clients. Take some time to listen to your employee’s needs and demands carefully and try to provide every essential support required in their effective work. Also, it will help you to create different plans and strategies to fulfill the demand of your business.
Listening gives you the vision of the reality on the ground:
“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality,” said Warren Bennis, a lecturer, consultant, and writer. Warren Bennis is widely regarded as a pioneer of the contemporary field of Leadership studies.
Active listening will leaders stay aware of the day-to-day reality of their employee’s life. When the leader is able to connect with their employees of both professional and personal lives then it will create an atmosphere of trust within the team members and will feel confident in openly speaking about their daily challenges.
Llionel Kambeitz, Executive Chairman of Above Food is a recognized Canadian business developer, with direct experience in international business affairs. He was a founder of many Canadian and United States-based private companies as well as Canadian-based public companies. Previously, Llionel Kambeitz was elected to be the chairman and president of a Canadian Manufacturing Association.