GUEST AUTHOR: ANN TIMMONS
It takes a lot of humility to be a good leader. You have to be personally strong enough to hear bad news without blaming the messenger. Ann does a great job of helping us focus on this key leadership skill and reminding us why developing our own inner power is so useful when it comes to wielding external power in the world. – InPower Editors
I work in the area of inter-personal, real-time, non-virtual communications, i.e, Public Speaking. I specializing in helping women speak with their leadership voices. Earlier this year, I was trying to solve some specific communications problems for a client. Though I was pretty sure I knew what she needed to hear, I wanted to reinforce my coaching advice with a real-world, up-to-date example. So I looked to one of my favorite resources, Adam Bryant’s “Corner Office” interviews in the New York Times where Bryant shares insights from a variety of savvy leaders in business and management.
One column in particular jumped out at me, Penny Pritzker’s December 2, 2013 interview, titled “On Hearing the Whole Story.” It dealt with lessons Prizker had learned, as she ascended the leadership ladder, about the power, and importance, of listening. Pritzker, a highly successful business leader in the real estate, hospitality, and financial services industries, is currently serving as Secretary of Commerce. She answered Bryant’s question about improving her leadership over the years this way: “Probably the biggest mistakes I’ve made were when I wasn’t listening carefully enough. Sometimes you need help with that. I have often said to my closest advisers that your job isn’t just to tell me what you think, but you also have to get in my face and make sure I heard you. It’s hard to deliver bad news, and part of leadership is giving people permission to give you bad news, and making sure you really hear it.”
Probably the biggest mistakes I’ve made were when I wasn’t listening carefully enough. – Penny Pritzker
The thing that struck me was how much humility is packed in that statement. And the acknowledgement that true leadership skill means a willingness to deal with uncertain, or even negative, feedback. A reminder that when you are a leader it is not about you, but about the shared goal of the stakeholders in your venture. If your staff or team is reluctant to give you bad news, then how can you really find out what is going on? Their job in not to please you, but to give you the information you need.
We all need to be ready to really hear what employees, co-workers, even family members, have to say–especially when it is something we may not want to hear! Let’s resolve to be better–and more open–listeners from now on. Mindfully practicing our listening skills will improve every facet of our lives, not just the bottom line.
Ann Timmons is an actor, director, writer, and teacher to share unique perspectives on presentation skills and communications training. Individual clients include solopreneurs, leaders in the private sector, government and non-profit spheres, as well as political candidates. She has designed and run workshops for the Department of State’s Emerging Women Leaders in Public Service Forum; The Embassy of Switzerland; The Ferguson Group; Ford’s Theatre; Georgetown University School of Foreign Service; Latham & Watkins LLP; and the Women & Politics Institute, American University, among others. Website, twitter: @annspeaks LinkedIn: Ann Timmons, Communications Artist FB: Ann Timmons
Looking for a place to find simple techniques to build your listening skills and become a better communicator? Look here!
