I’m proud to be a Contributor at the Deeper Leader SyncrhoBlog that runs September 10-14th.
You’re welcome to add your voice too. Go here to get details. I’ll be sure to check for your link and read your contribution.
Today’s Wisdom:
A Good Leader Listens.
Have you ever been talking to you boss and trying to communicate an urgent point, and you can tell that your boss is thinking about other things? He’s only waiting until you stop talking for a nano-second to tell you something he thinks is more important. I still gets surprised when this happens to me.
So many failures of leadership could be avoided by listening well in the first place. But, here’s the surprise. This is actually a spiritual problem.
A spiritually mature person is an excellent listener.
Truly listening helps those who lead not just to properly assess what is really happening so one can choose a good response, but it also helps a Leader find new talent to raise up new Leaders. Leadership is all about influence, and influencing others to be spiritually mature as they lead is crucial. In case you haven’t noticed the examples of immature and failed leadership are legion.
When we mentor others we must be attuned to what ones their gifts to lead others well. Too often we skip this part on our way to imparting our “wisdom” and getting them to absorb what we have to offer them.
Good Listening skills are rare and under-developed, so to get better at listening start by paying attention.
Did you ever have a boss who didn’t listen? Let me know.
Tomorrow I’ll talk about the next thing that makes a good Leader: INVITATION
Come back and read it tomorrow!
Huh? What’d you say? :) I’ve had some really good bosses who listened, but I think for the most part, the reason they didn’t listen to me was because I was young. In my early 20s, I thought I knew A WHOLE LOT MORE than I actually did (go figure!). I usually got an audience but I rarely got my way. It was good for me, though, because I got my way a lot as a kid. Listening is hard work. I took a class in college on listening and it was more interesting than I thought it would be. I find it hard to really listen to my kids sometimes because I have a gajillion other things I’m thinking about. So, thanks for the reminder about listening! I was listening!
I had a boss in a Christian institution who was so bad at this — and knew it — that he had this huge wooden-letter sign beside him. It said LISTEN. But the sign didn’t help much. I’m not very good at this, either. I sometimes work so hard at looking as though i’m listening that I probably look as though I’m more distracted than listening-with-effort, if that makes any sense. Listening is so relationally crucial.