Listening: the line manager’s not-so-secret weapon

“You have to listen,” said designer Ozwald Boateng OBE at the launch of his new uniforms for British Airways at the start of 2023. Listening isn’t just for designers, of course.

Search for “leadership skills” on Google and you’re presented with a list of worthy qualities and abilities. But surprisingly very few include listening.

“Communication” gets mentioned in that Google search, of course, and listening is a critical part of communication (otherwise it’s one way), but what’s involved in really good listening?

(Photo by rawpixel.com from PxHere.)

When Ozwald Boateng OBE designed the new BA uniforms that were unveiled at the start of the year, he revealed how he’d gone about designing the unique clothing range.

“What was important to me was to meet all of the different departments — what did they want in the uniform? You have to listen. The success of this collection is always going to be down to the people… if you’re paying attention to their needs, that transforms everything,” said Boateng in the promo video.

Never a truer phrase spoken in business: if you’re paying attention to their needs, that transforms everything.

It’s the same for line managers at every level, as is the antithesis: if you don’t listen to your people, you’ll transform nothing — and you’ll fail to engage, excite, enthuse and inspire your people.

Listening skills are defined as: “the ability to pay attention to and effectively interpret what other people are saying.”

But how can you actively listen to what’s being said?

1. Listening is ‘hearing with intent’

• Hearing is unavoidable for the majority of us: sounds flow into our ears and we control our brains to a certain extent to filter out most noises. (Those of us with children seem to be particularly good at this.)
• Listening requires a conscious effort to focus on what the other person is saying. We can’t listen if we’re talking.

2. Listening requires ‘distraction elimination’

• Switch off that phone. Lock your workscreen. Go somewhere quiet. Eliminate distractions as much as you can.
• On a phone call? Turn away from your computer or go somewhere you won’t be disturbed.

3. Show that you’re listening

• Write notes while the other person is talking but keep them short and as prompts to further comments, rather than writing War and Peace. (Many years ago, I was talking to my manager while she made quick and very loud notes with a marker pen, which was completely off-putting!)
• I see ‘maintain eye contact’ on a number of blogs about showing attentiveness in meetings but this isn’t always possible, particularly if you’re uncomfortable with doing that. (It can also be a bit disconcerting to stare incessantly at someone.)

4. Acknowledge, provide feedback and respond

• If you’re actively listening, you should also be able to respond with an appropriate comment or answer.
• A good way to acknowledge what the other person has said is to paraphrase what they’ve said or reframe it for your own understanding.

5. Listen until the end

• Don’t assume you know the ending.
• Give them the courtesy of finishing what they want to say before jumping in (unless they’re labouring the point, at which point a polite interruption is acceptable to get things back on track).

Whatever your role in business, you should make sure you actively listen.

“Seek first to understand, then to be understood,” says Stephen R. Covey in Habit #5 of his classic “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and this starts with listening.