RG Will Solutions LLC

Leadership Insight #2 – Listening with the Intent to Understand

Last week, I talked about how we typically listen with the intent to reply. I discussed how that can get in the way of connecting with others. This week, I want to discuss a higher level of listening, listening with the intent to understand.

As a Business Owner and a Consultant, Effective Communication is essential. In many cases, I work with clients who are dealing with complex problems. As such, I need to make sure that I truly understand what the problem is. If I listen with the intent to reply, our conversation becomes more of a back-and-forth discussion, each making our points.

Listening to Understand means you listen to a person’s words, emotions, and feelings. It involves suspending judgment and trying to capture what their words mean to them. You ask clarifying questions and focus on seeing things from their perspective. It’s about connecting and coming to a common understanding.

Once you understand what the other person is trying to say, then you share your ideas. This allows you to change or modify your communication based on your understanding of what the other is telling you. The exciting thing is that this has often helped me realize the root cause of a problem and focus on what I can do to help them begin to solve it.

Next week, we will start talking about how important it is for leaders to listen to their employees.

Leadership Insight #1 – Listening with the Intent to Reply

The number one problem in most organizations and most relationships is communication.

Too much of our communication is one-way. Think about where we spend most of our time, home, work, whatever. We’re having a conversation, discussing a problem, sharing ideas about how to solve the problem, and coming up with the solution. That’s the normal process.

Is that effective? I’ll bet that most of us spend most of our time conversing in “reply mode.” Typically, someone says something. Four words into their thought, we come up with a reply, and we spend our time waiting for them to take a break so we can share our thoughts. Then, we share our response. That’s efficient, but is it effective?

Have you ever had a situation where you thought you understood someone, and you found out later that you didn’t see it from their perspective? I know I have.

That’s why I believe our number one communication problem is “listening.” We think we listen a lot, but most of us are spending time formulating our thoughts while others are talking. If we’re addressing an issue, we must understand the problem before we act.

Next week, I will go into more detail about conversing in “understanding mode.” Until then, have a great week!

Leadership Insight #1 - Listening with the Intent to Reply

The number one problem in most organizations and most relationships is communication.

Too much of our communication is one-way. Think about where we spend most of our time, home, work, whatever. We’re having a conversation, discussing a problem, sharing ideas about how to solve the problem, and coming up with the solution. That’s the normal process.

Is that effective? I’ll bet that most of us spend most of our time conversing in “reply mode.” Typically, someone says something. Four words into their thought, we come up with a reply, and we spend our time waiting for them to take a break so we can share our thoughts. Then, we share our response. That’s efficient, but is it effective?

Have you ever had a situation where you thought you understood someone, and you found out later that you didn’t see it from their perspective? I know I have.

That’s why I believe our number one communication problem is “listening.” We think we listen a lot, but most of us are spending time formulating our thoughts while others are talking. If we’re addressing an issue, we must understand the problem before we act.

Next week, I will go into more detail about conversing in “understanding mode.” Until then, have a great week!

First, thanks to all of you who posted birthday wishes on my Facebook and LinkedIn pages. I am blessed to have all of you in my life!

I haven’t been active on Facebook and LinkedIn much over the past year. Part of that is that my business took off. (Thank you to everyone who was a part of that!) I have provided valued clients with leadership and process improvement consulting, coaching, and training. Many clients have told me this has made a difference in their performance.

These past few months have helped me to realize that life is unique and fleeting. It’s also made me realize that our only guarantee is today. As such, I will share leadership insights on my Facebook and LinkedIn every Tuesday for the following year. Not because I am smarter or wiser than anyone else. I will do this because many others have taught me leadership lessons that I would like to share with all of you.

I hope that you all have a great week! Thank you for being part of my life!

It's Wednesday, middle of the week, and I'm in the middle of a lot of things. Thought I'd share some of my thoughts today.

Tomorrow, I turn 62. Another one of those milestone ages we think about as I'm officially eligible for Social Security. I'm so blessed to get here. Yet could I have imagined what my life would have been like when I was a child? I doubt it. First, I never made it to Major League Baseball and starred for the Cardinals. However, I was blessed enough to attend Cardinals Legends Camp four times and those memories are priceless!

I think, though, that this is the secret to being a good leader. Things are not always going to work out the way you think or want them to. Good leaders recognize this and are flexible. They pivot, look at the landscape, and realize they need to do something different. They help their employees to do the same thing. They realize that change is the only constant in the world, and they react accordingly.

Today, I'm blessed with excellent clients, good partners, and meaningful work. I have an incredible wife, incredible family, wonderful friends, and a nice place to live. Life may not have turned out exactly the way I wanted it to, but it's been a wonderful ride so far.

And, next time you see me, ask me to share my Legends Camp stories. They always bring a smile to my face and some of them are pretty funny as well! Have a blessed day!

It's a Friday afternoon, snow and ice are still on the ground in spots, and we're all waiting for the weather to change this week. (That's part of living in Springfield, MO).

As I end my week, I wanted to say that I had the opportunity to attend a wonderful seminar sponsored by Connell Insurance this morning. The speaker, Mark Parrott, talked about "Meta-Trends and the Next Economy." I'm still digesting the incredible information he shared. I will post more about that later.

I wanted to remind everyone that a big part of being a leader is to constantly learn new things. As I've studied leadership over the years, I've seen where the best leaders realize that they don't know everything. In fact, the more I learn about leadership, the more I find that is out there to learn.

So, that's my message for this week, leaders. Keep on learning. Share your lessons with others. And be authentic as you lead. Have a great weekend!

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Register here, https://workforce.otc.edu/business-solutions/rsvp-leadership-series/ to warm-up NOW for 2022 with New Leadership Strategies from CWD Industry Expert and author, Randy Will! (https://workforce.otc.edu/business-solutions/industry-experts/randy-will/)

RSVP Leadership Series - OTC Center for Workforce Development Join CWD Industry Expert, Randy Will, as he shares specific actions that you (aspiring leader or existing leader) can take to improve your leadership skills. These strategies are founded in authenticity. They will help increase your ability to get desired behaviors and elevate the performance out of...

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