Robert Greenleaf said listening is the premier skill of the Servant-Leader: “I have a bias which suggests that only a true natural servant automatically responds to any problem by listening first. When he is a leader, this disposition causes him to be seen as servant first. This suggests that a nonservant who wants to be a servant might become a natural servant through a long arduous discipline of learning to listen, a discipline sufficiently sustained that the automatic response to any problem is to listen first.”
In the context of sending and receiving information, the spoken word transmits only 35% of the intended meaning. The remaining 55% of communications is through body language. That is why it is so easy to misunderstand a text message or email, as there are no body language cues or ability to hear the senders voice.
Mindful listening is challenging. We process between 13% to 25% of what we hear. No wonder the lecture-method is so ineffective in education!
4 Types of Listening Styles
Cara Bramlett, a physician assistant, describes the four types of listening styles:
People-oriented: Strong focus on understanding the feelings of the individual speaking. Emphasis on empathy and emotional intelligence. The earlier article on draining the emotional bubble is an example.
Content-oriented: Fact-finding mission and assessing the credibility of the speaker. The goal is to understand the situation. “Captain, I was so surprised when the pumper started moving into the lake. I thought I set the brake.”
Action-oriented: Focusing on the plan or actions of the individuals. This task-oriented listening is used when operating at emergency incidents or high-risk situations.
Time-oriented: Looking for the summary points and short answers. Caregivers interrupting a chest pain patient who is providing an extensive history of his cardiac disease is an example of a time-oriented listener.
We mix these listening styles depending on the situation and the speaker.
Servant-Leader Listening Checklist
The techniques and concerns with servant-leader listening closely follow the draining the emotional bubble process described by Mike Taigman. Don Frick provides this servant-leader listening checklist:
- Do my body and face show that I am involved in the conversation and interested in what the person is saying?
- Am I interrupting or hurrying the person along?
- Am I asking appropriate, open questions to draw the person out?
- Am I using my own words to clarify the person’s message and reflect his or her feelings?
- Am I not judging, criticizing, analyzing or trying to fix the person?
- Am I responding to feedback in a non-defensive manner? (Sipe and Frick)
5 ways to Listen Better
Julian Treasure provided a 2011 TedTalk “5 ways to Listen Better” (7:42 minutes)
The five techniques are:
- Silence
- The Mixer
- Savoring
- Position
- RASA (Recieve-Appreciate-Summarize-Ask)
Mindful listening is a core servant-leader skill that builds the foundation of trust with the team you supervise. Now that you are listening, what will you do with the issues and information you are learning?
++++++++
Greenleaf, Robert K. (1970) The Servant as Leader. Indianapolis: The Robert Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership. [2008 revised edition ISBN: 0982201222]
Bramlett, Cara (2017) Servant Leadership Roadmap: Master the 12 Core Competencies of Management Success with Leadership Qualities and Interpersonal Skills. Amazon Digital Services ASIN: B078MR5MQR
Sipe, James W., and Frick, Don F. (2015) Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership: Practicing the Wisdom of Leading By Serving. Mahwah NJ: Paulist Press. Epub ISBN 978-1-58768-490-6
Treasure, John (2017) How to be Heard: Secrets for Powerful Speaking and Listening. Amazon Digital Services. ASIN: B06XX87DLZ