Question

Listening is a difficult skill. What does it take to be an effective listener? Assess your own listening strengths and weaknesses.

Answer 1

Answer 1) Listening is an art that requires work, self-discipline, and skill. The art of communication springs as much from knowing when to listen as it does from knowing how to use words well. Ask any good salesperson or negotiator about the value of silence. He or she will tell you good listeners generally make more sales and better deals than good talkers.

The best listeners recognize that they cannot succeed without seeking out information from those around them and they let those people know that they have unique input that is valuable. When you show respect for other people's ideas, they're more likely to reciprocate.Being a good listener also involves drawing out important information from others to help them brainstorm and uncover fresh ideas and solutions. In other words, good listeners don't jump in with answers or give lectures about what was done wrong.It's also important to note that asking respectful questions does not mean that the questions can't be tough or pointed questions. The key is to ask questions in a manner that will promote as opposed to hinder the free and open flow of communication and idea-generating.

Good listeners seek to understand—and challenge—the assumptions that lie below the surface of every conversation. One of the cornerstones of good listening is that in order to get what you need to know from your conversations and make good decisions, you must be willing to challenge long-held and cherished assumptions. Just because something has always been done in a certain way in the past doesn't mean there isn't an equally good or better way to do it.Again, this change of attitude is not an easy feat to accomplish. Change is hard. There's a reason the saying, "Why fix something that isn't broken?" is so popular.