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Active Listening

In our active world of communication the art of listening is vital. As a leader, you must listen to your constituents in order to be effective. You need to correctly understand all messages from group members.

Active listening differs from hearing. Hearing is the act of perceiving audible sounds with the ear and is a passive act. Listening, on the other hand, is the active pursuit of understanding what the other person is saying and feeling.

In active listening, the receiver tries to understand what the sender is feeling and what the message means. The listener puts his/her understanding into his/her own words and repeats it back to the sender. This creates an atmosphere of acceptance and understanding in which the sender can explore the problem and determine a solution. To actively listen and understand is not a simple activity.


The following are important characteristics of a good listener:

Be There
Be present in heart, mind and spirit with the person you are speaking to. You need to hear what he/she has to say. If you don't have the time, or don't want to listen, wait until you do.

Accept
Accept the person as he or she is without judgment or reservation even if he or she is very different from you.

Trust
Trust the person's ability to handle his/her own feelings, work through them, and find solutions to his/her own problems.

Accept
Accept the person's feelings, whatever they may be or however they may differ from your own feelings or how you think the person should feel. Don't be afraid that just because the feeling is expressed now, that the person will always feel that way. Remember that feelings change.

Listen
Don't plan what you are going to say. Don't think of how you can interrupt. Don't think of how to solve the problem, how to admonish, how to console, what the person "should" do.

Keep Out Of It
Keep yourself removed from the situation. Remain objective. Don't intrude physically, verbally, mentally. Be quiet. Listen. This is hard and certainly not passive

Stay With The Other Person
Put yourself in the other's shoes, at his/her point of reference. Don't become that person, but understand what he/she is feeling, saying, and thinking. Stay separate enough to be objective but involved enough to help. Through active listening, you can become a better leader and your organization will be more effective.

USED WITH PERMISSION: University of Michigan Office of Student Activities and Leadership Handouts