Make 2019 Your Year to Become a More Powerful Listener

If you are making resolutions to improve your leadership skills in the new year, you have a lot of options. You could take a course in project management or business finance, for example, or you could resolve to learn more about promoting your company on social media.Those are all good choices. But if you are fully determined to take your leadership abilities to the next level, I would like to encourage you to do something that is more important . . .Make 2019 the year when you will improve your listening skillsIf you devote yourself to listening more powerfully this year, there are no limits to the benefits you and your organization will enjoy. Because you will understand more of what people are telling you, you will stay focused on genuine priorities, not on “stuff you think you ought to be doing.” Because the people you work with will sense that they have been heard by you, they will feel more satisfied with their work, and more motivated to share their best ideas.So How Do You Transform Your Listening Abilities?I would like to suggest a simple strategy for improving your listening. I write about it in my book Ingaging Leadership, and you can start using it today.To take your listening to a far more effective level . . .Start to listen for what other people are saying that is right, not for what is wrongIn this way, you will discover nuggets of wisdom that you can then focus on, ask about, and develop.It sounds like a very simple change in the way you listen, doesn’t it? But if you try it, you will find that you will refocus your leadership lens on the very best ideas that people are bringing to you. You will discover “nuggets of wisdom” that you would have missed if your focus was only on proving other people wrong or – just as damaging – only wanting to prove yourself right.Incidentally, a new edition of my book Ingaging Leadership will soon be published by Motivational Press. I encourage you to be on the lookout for it. I will certainly be announcing it on this blog.But until you have a copy of my new book in your hands, I would encourage you to devote your energies to becoming a better and more positive learner. There is no better investment you can make in your leadership in year 2019.