Be a Great Listener To Become a Great Leader
By Greg Schmidt
I have been in the network marketing industry for about 5 years now. Being a
successful entrepreneur and a leader in the industry has taught me a lot. I am
going to share with you something that has brought me success to my life, and I
am not talking about money.
Being a true leader has taught me how to be a great listener. By nature, we
as humans receive 80% of our information through our eyes. Not our ears. Have
you ever had a conversation with someone you have never met and by the time the
conversation ended you forgot their name? Happens to all of us. I’ll bet you
remember what the person was wearing. You will also remember if the person was
tall, short, thin, or a little on the heavier side. So you end up referring to
that person as “the tall one with the brown hair and yellow shirt.”
Or how about this: Listening to a book on tape while you are in the car and
not remembering what was said once you reach your destination. This was me, just
today!! I am not a book on tape kind of person. Why is that? It’s because there
are too many distractions when you are driving. You have to pay attention to the
road and the surrounding environment to avoid an accident. I’d rather read a
book. Remember we are all visual people. I see the words on paper, I listen to
myself say the words and that’s how I understand.
Are you a sentence finisher? Many of us are. I know I was definitely one!
This means that we already have a response to someone’s sentence without
actually listening to them. Listen with the intent to understand!
We were all born with 2 ears and 1 mouth. Statistics show that we can hear
about 500 words a minute and only speak about 100 words a minute. The gap is
pretty big isn’t it? That’s when our mind goes elsewhere and information is
lost.
Some tips that help you become a better listener:
Take the time to remove yourself and person you are talking with to a less
distracting place. This can also be achieved by simply turning your back to
anything that is distracting. Then you don’t see the distractions. It’s easier
to speak in a distracting environment than to listen in one.
Resist the temptation to disagree. Many of us will interrupt someone the
second we disagree with them. We formulate a response to the person before they
even have finished their sentence. Don’t listen with the intent to respond.
Have good body language. What kind of message do you send someone when you
have your arms crossed? It means that you are in a “defensive mode” and don’t
agree with what someone is saying or just not interested in what is said. Sit up
straight with a little forward lean. This tells the speaker that you have
interest in what is said even though you may not agree.
Encourage the speaker. This means nodding your head every once in a while and
saying little words like “yeah” and “oh really?” This tells the speaker you’re
giving them the respect and that you are engaged in the conversation. Then they
are more open to listen to you when you have valuable information to share with
them.
I believe that listening shows the ultimate respect for someone else. So
remember this: To win people’s hearts, stop listening with the intent to respond
and start listening with the intent to understand!
Greg Schmidt is an internet marketing consultant who love to share his ideas
to better the marketing skills it takes to become a more successful internet
business owner. He shares his stories of struggle, sacrifice and success with
everyone.
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Could you recommend any specific resources, books, or other blogs on this topic?
Aw, this was a really quality post. In theory I’d like to write like this too – taking time and real effort to make a good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and never seem to get something done.
This update was pretty interesting, how often do you update your blog? I’ve bookmarked this site and gave you guys a digg, hope to read more soon!
Thanks for this cool post. Anyway i found your blog on yahoo and find it very useful. I’ll be sure to come back again for more!
Im new to your blog and I just bookmarked it for me to read your next posts. Im so impressed with your writing expressive style. Im sorry of this being off topic but can suggest books about blogging, Ill be really gratifying if you can share where you learned from. Thanks in advance. – Robert
I like the way your blog looks, way cool.
I think that that was really interesting. Good post!
Hello, This blog is very interesting and enjoyable to read. I am a big fan of the subjects discussed. I also enjoy reading the comments, but notice that alot of people should stay on topic to try and add value to the original blog post. I would also encourage everyone to bookmark this page to your favourite service to help spread the word.
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!
As always nice article, thanks for that. I managed to set up a blog, too, now. Your work inspired me.
I liked reading the priceless training you have to share here.
Your post has been more than helpful. I just started a blog and I’m not getting any traffic at all. Can you help me out? Thanks Dave
Exceptional, I passed this on to a comrade of mine, and he actually bought me lunch because I found this for him, so let me rephrase: Thanks for lunch.
I stumbled onto your blog and read a few post. I like your style of writing.
What a breath of fresh air to bring a little sunshine after a intense day. Excellent prose that really gets the idea covered. Cant thank you enough for taking the time.
Hi, thanks so much for these tips! My blogs usually do bring readers and responses. One thing I do is engage with the readers. Answer questions in responses and make clarifications where needed. I think they appreciate that I take the time to talk to them.
Thank You For This Blog, was added to my bookmarks.
Great Blog. I add this Post to my bookmarks.
Excellent blog! I truly love how it is easy on my eyes and also the information are well written. I am wondering how I can be notified whenever a new post has been made. I have subscribed to your rss feed which need to do the trick! Have a nice day!
I don’t often post on blogs, but just wanted to say I really enjoyed reading. Thank you
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