Listen with Your Eyes…

 

Effective listening is essential to good leadership. Many MMMs have focused on the importance of attentive, interactive listening when others are speaking. But that’s not the only kind of listening that matters. It’s also critical to listen with your eyes.

You can learn a lot by observing how people interact with one another. Watch their body language and their attitudes. Look for team members who are exerting positive or negative influence at work. Pay attention to changes in someone’s mood or behavior. Watch closely how your coworkers respond to one another in meetings.

This doesn’t come naturally to me. I’ve been caught off guard more than once by something that was happening right in front of me, something I should have noticed. But I’m working on being more aware. I’ve come to realize how important this kind of listening is to my leadership.

You can learn a lot when you open your eyes and close your mouth. Great leaders understand the power of listening with their eyes.