Are You Listening?

Have you ever had that person you work for (or vice versa) that seems to always be in the ‘transmit only’ mode of communication? You know the ones. The people that never really listen. They never seem to go into the ‘receive’ mode of communication.

They know everything. Just ask them. They will be glad to tell you how it should be done and why you should listen to them. And they know what senior leadership and/or your customers are thinking. Don’t worry, if you listen to them you will never go wrong. They have things to say and you need to hear it.

Unfortunately, these people are emboldened by actually being right every once in a while. And if they are wrong, well, they didn’t have all of the data. But for some reason, these people are often put into leadership roles and end up doing way more harm than good. The people under them suffer and the organization suffers.

People like this stifle new ideas or good suggestions. They make it difficult, at best, to get anything innovative or fresh discussed because they know it all. Even if they do allow something to be discussed, it will be shot down almost outright because it doesn’t fit their way of doing things. After all, they’re in charge and you’re not. They don’t want their position or perceived intellect challenged.

But here’s the thing for those of you that are this way…and some of you even know that about yourselves…you don’t know everything. You can’t do it all by yourself. You don’t have the monopoly on the right way to do things. And you’re really not that smart. You just learned that being more vocal and having one or two things go right for you got you this far. Trust me, no one gets where they are by themselves.

But there is hope. I believe that there are more people out there that are not this way than are. So for those of you that are in a position to promote the next generation of leaders or are doing a ranking of your subordinates, I know you recognize this trait in those that work for you. Work with them, or at least try to work with them, to overcome this deficiency. That is one of the jobs of a leader…the professional development of those under them. If they won’t change, or you don’t have time for that person to correct themselves, then don’t move them into a leadership role. Every one of them that got there did so because a leader or group of leaders that approved that promotion didn’t have the guts to pick a leader that could lead. Or one that could listen.

Are you listening?