Is Listening a Skill?
— Benjamin Birnbaum, Excel Business 2011
*This blog was originally published on LinkedIn on July 18, 2017.*

Since graduating college, I have worked in varied corporate strategy roles at big companies. This string of loosely defined positions have either been set up to untangle the root causes of challenges, pinpoint opportunities, or build the plans to take action on either. Because that sounds like bullshit, people often call my bluff. It happens in three ways:
1. ‘Wait, what?’ I warn this person that my answer is over three minutes long, and give them the option not to hear it.
2. ‘Can you tell the CEO _____?’ I’m thankful for this person; they’re about to tell me something that they either shouldn’t or is genius. Both fun.
Or, my favorite:
3. ‘What on EARTH makes you qualified for that?’ Usually suggesting that I’m unqualified in some aspect. And despite the fact that I’ve had relative success, they’re probably right. (for another day, I’d argue that this should be the case)
Since I’ve had to respond to each query so many times, I’ve spent time thinking about what competencies make someone a success in corporate strategy. Though math, public speaking, creativity, composure, and PivotTables (many, many PivotTables) are involved, these pale in comparison to what I see as most critical for success:

Welcome to my conundrum. The definition of a skill according to Google, the millennial Webster’s, is the ability to do something well; an expertise. Under that classification, I don’t believe that listening, empathy, or humility are skills — simply choices. Anyone can choose to be humble, to empathize, or to listen. They are not like math, or computer science, or archery — no prior knowledge or training is required, simply a choice. So my questions for you…
- Is listening is a skill? (or empathy, or humility)
- If so, how do you improve it?
- If not, why don’t more people choose to be good listeners?
Benjamin Birnbaum is Vice President of Strategy & Growth for MV Transportation, the largest transportation services company in North America. By day, he works with city leaders on bringing their vision for their city’s future of mobility to life. He is a member of the Birthright Israel Excel 2011 cohort, and the current Chair of Birthright Excel’s North American community. He graduated from Pennsylvania State University, lives in New York City and is a world renowned cocktail party conversationalist.

