The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

Listening

Listening has been called the forgotten skill in communication. It

is more than just hearing, it is the giving of thoughtful attention to

another person whilst they are speaking.

The ‘disease of not listening’ – the ‘I hear what you say’ response

• exhibits the following symptoms:


• Selective listening is habit forming: not wanting to know things
  and turning a deaf ear to certain types of information does two
  things:
  i) you do not listen to important items
  ii) people censor what they tell you
  and both can be damaging in business and in private life


• The constant interrupter is not listening (but planning his/her
  own next interruption)


• The ‘day-dreamer’ is not a listener


• The poor listener is easily distracted by external factors eg
  noise, heat/cold


• The lazy listener makes no effort with difficult information


• The poor listener over-reacts to a speaker’s delivery and/or
  quality of visual aids rather than concentrating on what is being
  said.

180 The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership