What’s Your Listening Style?
Listening is a skill, like many, that we can always work towards improving. Harvard recently published a great article. The summary is as follows:
We may have learned that we need to let people speak without interrupting but taking turns talking does not truly denote listening. And unintentionally hijacking conversations to advise, inject humor, empathize, prioritize efficiency, or insert ourselves into the speaker’s narrative is often done with good intentions, but may instead disrupt the human connection we think we’re forging. Recognizing when to shift out of our habitual styles and consciously apply alternative styles of listening and responding may allow for more effective and meaningful interactions.
The article goes on to highlight four distinct listening styles and five things you can do to improve. Further, the authors underscore that through experimenting with our listening, we stand to:
- Solidify our active partnership in conversations.
- It expands the space for others to reveal what really matters to them and can actually be more efficient if we can get to the heart of the matter more deliberately.
- By intentionally applying new ways to listen, we build relationships, understand others, and collaborate and problem-solve more effectively.
