Coach4aday blog posts are ideas that are shared to help people grow and learn.
If you want to follow the blog via email go to the bottom right of the post and click the follow button.
My twitter handle is @coach4aday2 if you want to follow the blog that way.
Each year the blog takes on a different focus. In 2019 the goal is for each post to bring you the reader a lesson, quote, message, or story that can help you grow.
Listening
Well we just finished up the 12 Days of Christmas and I am sure many of you attended a number of parties or social gatherings. A former coaching colleague of mine used to define holiday parties as events where everybody is talking but nobody is listening.
Listening just might be the important ingredient for becoming a strong leader and the way to strengthen any relationship. Without it we can’t possible know how to serve those that we lead. Listening lets us discover what our teams or people in our lives need.
Stephen Covey had listening as his fifth habit in “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”
Covey was big on the skill of empathic listening, with the goal to understand what the other person is trying to communicate.
Often times people in our lives don’t FEEL we are listening. I once heard the acronym ONE used to teach us to be better listeners
ONE way to be a better listener
- Open Posture-Shoulders back and Arms Uncrossed
- Nod-Nod your head while you listen
- Eye Contact-Look at the person don’t continually stare but look at that while they talk
Mark Cole has a very good article on listening called Listen with Your Leadership on the John Maxwell website.
Love the summary of this article is when we grow as a listener we grow as a leader.
coach4aday 
[…] I have written before about my strong alliance to many of the philosphies of Stephen Covey […]