Learning to listen offers great advantages and is essential for effective leadership. We’re checking what we hear against our own experience or ‘autobiography’ and consequently, we decide prematurely what the other person means before he/she finishes communicating”. We filter everything we hear through our own life experiences, or our frame of reference. As Covey explains, “… we’re listening to ourselves prepare in our mind what we’re going to say. When someone else is speaking, we’re so busy concentrating on getting our point across, that we selectively hear only parts of the conversation - perhaps focusing on some of the words - and consequently, we misunderstand the meaning. More often than not, many of us listen with the intent to reply, not to understand. In his international bestselling book “ The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” he develops a framework for personal effectiveness and presents his teachings through a series of habits, number five of which is: “ Seek first to understand and then to be understood”. In order to change a given situation, we must change ourselves, and in order to change ourselves, we must be able to change our perceptions. Stephen Covey, the way we see the world is entirely based on our own perceptions. However, while the majority of us learn to read and write from an early age, the ability to listen – and by that I mean truly understanding another human being - is something many of us have received little guidance in mastering.Īccording to the author Dr. One of the most important communication skills we can utilise.
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