One of the most valuable skills the modern leader has is to listen.
Having the ability to sit and quietly pay attention, withhold judgement and be open to possibilities will lead to better solutions, stronger trust and connection.
Listening well combines good self-awareness and self-management. Firstly, to know when our biases are coming up and secondly, the ability to set them aside.
Listening well requires silence. Letting those moments stretch out will allow time for thought, and that tension will bring out the right conversation.
Listening effectively requires intention, and to add to the complexity, you can't listen without thinking and feeling.
According to Otto Scharmer, there are four levels of listening.
🛫 Level 1 - Autopilot.
We filter, discard and dismiss. This reinforces our current way of seeing the world. At this level, we are like the algorithm on YouTube. We only take in the same type of content, the content we like, rather than the content that might stimulate our interest in different directions or even give us divergent views and ideas to expand our understanding.
This way of listening discards a lot of information you might need to innovate, explore ideas and build genuine connection and trust.
🧠 Level 2 - Open Mind.
This is where we can take on new information and actively look for alternatives and opposing views to consider what else might be possible.
💙 Level 3 - Open Heart.
We listen empathetically, and we appreciate the perspective of the other person. We don't need to have felt their emotions, but we believe their perspective completely and we do this without judgement.
🙏🏼 Level 4 - Open Will.
We give up our preconceptions about how something should be done and allow control to be passed to the other person. We can act as coaches at this moment, and we don't impose ourselves on the outcome.
It's important to note here that this is not linear. You can move back and forward between these in one conversation.
So where do we start to be more intentional about moving between these levels of listening?
Start to reflect every day on where you have been using listening. Then think about what helped or hindered you in moving to a level that could have helped get a better outcome or better connection.
Do this for a couple of weeks, and you should start noticing that you catch yourself in the moment and adjust your listening in real time.
The 4 levels of listening for the modern contact centre leader