Real Leaders are Master Listeners
Communication is vital in all aspects of our lives. We communicate with our co-workers, family members, friends, spouses. It’s an essential aspect of how we get around. In the realm of communication, we write and talk, however the act of listening is often forgotten. People all want to be heard, but they seem to neglect listening attentively at what the person they are speaking to is saying. If you are thinking about what to respond to your colleague before they finish iterating their last word, then you are doing listening all wrong. The difference between a good listener and a bad one can mean the world of a difference in the type of leader you are. Something that our team truly appreciates about Brad Roemer is his ability to make every employee feel like they are heard. From the ideation process all the way to strategy execution, we feel like our involvement in Brad Roemer Realtor as well as this interior and exterior design side hustle is of great value. If you wish to master listening in all corners of your life, then listen on… You might just catch on to a lesson or two that you would have otherwise missed out on because you were too busy listening to yourself talk!
Listen When Your Friend Is Going Through A Difficult Time
A lot of the time, when you’re a man you think that providing quick solutions to the trials and tribulations that your friends are going through is the way to effective communication. However, if you fail to listen in on how the “negative obstacle” is shaping your friend’s perception of their journey perception, how can you adequately provide bullet-proof solutions for them to smash the obstacle to shame? Let’s take the example that your friend recently lost his or her job. While frustration, sadness and anger may be in the boat of emotions that your friend is experiencing, they can react by this unfavorable news in one of two ways: Either they take it as the universe’s sign that pushes them to finally open up that business they’ve wanted to do all their life, or to put that mystical story that’s been stuck in their head since the tenth grade down on paper. Or they can slump into hibernation, feeling completely defeated and useless. Their expressions in the way they talk, the body language they exude as well as the words they utter are meant to be deciphered to be there as a gearing support.
Listen To Build Better Work Relationships
Organizational behaviour scientist Nossel believes that a cohesive work environment where colleagues get along well with one another is the best way to building a profitable business. If you find yourself having a difficult time harvesting solid work relationships, then it’s likely that you aren’t putting effort into setting up coffee dates with those you co-share your office with. Next time it’s your break, ask one of your colleagues if they’d like to join you for a coffee. This is the moment where you can start asking them about their life story, from their passions all the way through to what exactly attracted them to their current job. Asking pertinent questions that shows you were listening to their story will make your co-worker feel appreciated and truly heard. If you have a higher role in your organization, then you have the ability to create a more apparent business atmosphere that pegs on sharing ideas and stories with one another. For instance, Brad Roemer makes it a point to have a “Storytelling Staff Meeting” every two weeks at his real estate company. Here, he starts the meeting with a fun topic such as “What did you want to be when you were 5 years old?” or “What’s your hidden talent?” where every employee is given the opportunity to answer. By getting to know one another in this cool play meeting, Roemer has seen a sharp increase in sales. These icebreaker tactics encourage you to mesh more with your counterpart colleagues.
Listen Even Harder When You Have Opposing Views
Picture this: You’re on a road trip with your boyfriend and his best friend, and all of a sudden a political view is brought up. While your boyfriend’s best friend is Republican, you are most definitely a Democrat. Your views completely clash, and you so badly want to smash his argument down before he has the chance to speak another similar syllable. Before jumping to conclusions and hastily exuding fury, ask this person why they think the way they do. Ask them to share with you their story. Perhaps they will shed light on what got them to perceive the world in such an opposing manner, and you can calmly understand (even if you do not agree) the Republican statement they made.
Did you like this blog post? Please share in the comments below your favorite listening techniques and stories.