THE SUCCESS MANTRA: ‘Listen To Understand’
Do You Listen to Understand, or to Reply?
Every day as students, we listen to professors, batchmates, and guest faculties to gain knowledge. But do we ever wonder if we listen to what the other person is offering, listen to understand, and not just reply?
We are so bound by the idea of presenting our thoughts that we fail to understand the purpose of why we are listening to someone in the first place. A manager is expected to understand the team’s needs and expectations and set a proper way to the ultimate vision. If he fails to do so, he along with the team may not be able to achieve the desired results. While if he succeeds the team will follow his /her directions respectfully as they feel a sense of respect in the organization.
We as PGDM program students of FIIB are being trained to be magnificent managers, and listening to understand others is one of the crucial areas on which we need to focus. This will improve the process of communication and one will be able to express what he/she is feeling or going through. Communication is one of the crucial areas in which the majority of managers fail, they might be excellent at performing tasks on their own and have immense domain knowledge, but when it comes to communicating with their team they don’t communicate effectively. Author Stephen Covey has rightly said, “Most people don’t listen to understand, they listen with the intent to reply”.
Not only for managers but everyone in general it is imperative to communicate effectively and if we fail to do so conflicts might arise between individuals and this will deteriorate their relations. Listening to understand is also a way of giving others value and respect, they feel heard and honored when you remember the minute details they told you and tend to confide in you. It creates a sense of trust among them and they start respecting you more than they used to before. People suffering from depression also go through similar situations in life, they don’t feel understood, by calmly listening to them we can make them feel good and maybe even help them come out of this phase of their lives. They just need someone they can confide in and someone who can guide them. We should always try our best to “Listen to Understand and not to reply”. I believe the world would be happier if everyone swore by this.