There are so many leadership experts articulating sound wisdom past and present.
I have found focusing on a few experts to be less confusing than trying to explore the equal number of perspectives of leadership challenges.
The criteria for who I follow is simple. Do their values and intent align with mine? Are the strategies easy to implement and will change follow?
My current Leadership expert is Simon Sinek.
He is constantly challenging the state of normal and looks at situations from the team’s point of view and how the leader needs to understand this to lead the team forward.
Simon speaks of many leadership attributes, and I believe the starting point for any leader is the Art of Listening. The ability to not only hear the words but feel the understanding behind the words. To respond in such a way that the speaker Feels Heard. Not just heard by the listener parroting back the words but heard in a sense of real empathy and real feeling.
Two things happen when we Feel Heard- Trust and Understanding. Courageous Leaders need to build trust and understand the team as individuals and as a collective.
Hence Courageous Leaders need to be experts at the Art of Listening.
Listening is the basis for the difficult conversation we all avoid having.
Listening is the first step to uncovering the real problem to then remove the barrier.
Listening is the foundation of a team to collaborate and compromise.
Listening is a learned and practiced skill set every Courageous Leader needs.
Are your Courageous Leaders being coached in the Art of Listening?
For more details and a case study on Listening, Simon articulates it in more detail here
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