Are You Really Listening?

Can you honestly say that you really listen to what people are saying, or do you just think you are listening? Unfortunately too many people are not listening as attentively as they could.

One way to know if you are a good listener is to summarize what the person has just said. If you can’t do this, then you weren’t really listening.

Listening is a wonderful skill to have, it actually helps to improve your personality and makes you more interesting. This can apply to all areas of your life both personal and professional.

Let’s take a look at how developing better listening skills can help you in your professional life. Maybe you are currently not happy with your job and would love to find a new one.

By listening attentively to current discussions at work you may hear of an opportunity that is going to open up, a new position for example. This new position just might be perfect for you. You now have advance warning of this and can take immediate steps to show your interest in it.

Even if you are not looking for a job yourself, you could pass on this information to someone you know who is. This is usually the reason why new job openings are filled so quickly. Someone was paying attention and applied for the position before it was posted.

Another way being a great listener at work can help is becoming aware of some type of situation. This could be two employees who are not getting along. You may be in a position to diffuse the situation or notify someone who is.

Or you might hear of someone who is struggling with learning a new software program. If you know the software you could offer your help to this person. This will not go un-noticed by your supervisor and could lead to advancing your career.

By working on improving your listening skills you are able to take actions before others. If you are looking for a promotion, this one skill could be your ticket in obtaining it.

As others notice that you are paying more attention and listening your popularity at work will increase. This will help you build better relationships with your co-workers and supervisors.

Another huge benefit of becoming a good listener is that it helps to develop your self-confidence. As you feel better about yourself this automatically affects your personality and every action you take will be a confident one.