Academic Leadership

Academic Leadership: Fundamental Building Blocks

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Table 1: Personal Traits That Affect Listening Effectiveness (Pearce et al., 2003)

Objectivity

Staying neutral and not getting involved emotionally, enhances listening.

Age

Listening increases with age, until you get very old.

Open Mindedness

Having an open mind improves your ability to listen.

Level of self-centredness

Over-preoccupation with self image, knowledge or importance reduces effective listening.

Focus

Don't do multiple tasks when trying to listen.

Intelligence

A moderate relationship exists between intelligence and listening.

Level of anxiety and stress

Stress lowers our ability to listen.

Managerial rank

Managers tend to listen better than subordinates.

Presence of problems

Diminishes hearing.

Gender

Women are generally considered better listeners; men prefer to listen to the general, women to

the details.

Activity

Think about:

Which of your personal traits predispose you to being an effective listener?

Which predispose you to being a poor listener?

What can you do about this?

Write about this in your journal.