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Maybe it’s the season or just a more buoyant job market;
but lately I’m sure involved in a lot more discussions
about leadership.

I’m receiving more requests for help defining the key
characteristics which make a great leader; and I’m hearing
a lot of negative stuff from clients about their bosses.

Most leaders die with their mouths open:

I recently read an article in Fast Company magazine which
reflected on the issue of leadership. In it, they quote
Ronald Heifetz, the founder of Harvard’s Center for Public
Leadership, who made the above comment back in 1999. He
followed it up by saying that, “leaders must know how to
listen - and the art of listening is more subtle than most
people think it is. But first and just as important,
leaders must want to listen.”

You’d think this is simply basic stuff, right? Like what we
learned in Management 101. I doubt there’s any exec in
business today who wouldn’t say they ‘know’ this already.
But in my experience, in many cases, leaders don’t seem to
think it applies to them.

And yet, I’m continually told by executives and
professionals that they don’t feel ‘heard’ enough by their
superiors. And here’s the really interesting thing about it
- I hear this frustration cited by people at every level
within organizations! < What this means that managers at
every level, are busy looking 'up' the organization chart
for someone to listen to them - but they're not giving
their own managers and staff 'below' them the same
benefits!

So we have the situation, in many companies, where the
managers go around telling those who report to them what to
do & how to do it but rarely ask those same people for
their input. How dumb is that?

Our North American companies are pretty inefficient:

OK - this is a random poll: Please raise your arm if you
believe that your company is at least 90% efficient.

Based upon what I hear from clients, there aren’t many arms
raised out there, I’d guess. In fact, most executives tell
me that their own organizations are actually inefficient.
Many are concerned that their employer is getting less
competitive on a global scale. Some worry about cutbacks or
reduced investment spending which may result.

At the same time, they’ll often tell me that they
personally are bored, unchallenged, stale, and losing
interest. So, let’s review: Inefficient businesses - no one
is listeing to those closer to the real action - and stale
managers who are worried about global competitiveness. Is
this a coincidence? Not likely.

We can fix this situation. And it’s not that hard. Remind
yourself once in a while about that lesson of Management
101 and become a better leader by becoming a better
listener. Simply start asking - and here I mean showing
that you really want to hear your team members’ ideas about
making your department or organization more efficient. Show
clearly that you are on a new mission and want to make
‘listening’ a priority. When your direct reports start to
believe that you are serious - watch out. I guarantee that
you’ll start to hear new ideas which will kick-start your
organization’s success. With that will come renewed
enthusiasm for the job. And the cycle of success will build
from there.

You don’t need to die with your mouth open.

Tips:

1. Give your team credit for having the same basic needs
and expectations as you have yourself.

2. Shut up once in a while.

3. Ask your subordinates how they’d deal with a problem or
situation.

4. Get enthusiastic for the game again. There was a reason

you took this job.

If you thought this article was worthwhile, you many want to take a free 7 part mini coaching course, “7 Secrets of Leadership Success”.

Sign up at http://www.BusinessSuccessCoach.net

John McKee is the visionary behind BusinessSuccessCoach.net, the premier online coaching service for business people and professionals at all levels. During his over 25 years as a senior executive, he personally hired, promoted, and fired literally thousands of people. Now, as a business coach, McKee uses the phone to coach others to become more successful using field tested approaches.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, February 21st, 2008 at 10:18 am and is filed under Leadership. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.