The Best Leaders Listen Very Well

While working with a set of managers recently I was reminded of how easy it is to listen and get a person talking. How to do this is no secret but it is not “easy”. First you need to ask an open ended question. Such as “tell me what you are thinking about the changes to the strategic plan”. Second, and this is the hard part is to count to ten and let the other person fill the silence. Ten seconds feels like a long time, uncomfortably so. My guarantee is that nearly anyone you engage in this way will start talking. They will also feel like what they had to say was very important to you.