When I Google “Leadership Skills” one of the results that comes up is active listening. Listening to another person is important, but what exactly is active listening?

Author Stephen Covey says you should seek first to understand, then to be understood. This is the essence of active listening. It means you are listening to understand what someone is telling you, not so that you can have a clever reply in response to what they are saying. It also means that you don’t change the subject as soon as someone is done talking. Instead, you wait to share your own ideas and opinions until after the person you are talking to has had enough time to share his own ideas and opinions.

I have not mastered the skill of active listening. I still find that I often start thinking about what I want to say while listening to someone and I then have to force myself to stop and listen to what that person is saying. If I don’t, then I may miss what they are saying.

So what should you be thinking about while listening to someone? You should hear what they are saying and then be thinking about what they are trying to tell you. If you don’t understand what they are saying you can then ask questions to clarify what they are trying to tell you.

Asking questions is a key component of active listening. After someone speaks, don’t start talking about your own ideas and opinions. Instead, ask a question that furthers the conversation and gets the person to speak more on the topic or idea she is discussing. By asking a question you will show that you listened to the speaker and that you are interested in hearing more of what she has to say.

Another thing you can do when actively listening to someone is to paraphrase what they told you. For example, after someone shares an idea with you can repeat his idea back to him in your own words to show him that you understood what he was trying to tell you. If your understanding of his idea was wrong he now has the opportunity to correct your understanding of his idea by explaining it again while you actively listen so you can better understand what he is trying to tell you.

So why is active listening such an important leadership skill?

In a team environment it is important that every team member’s ideas and opinions are heard. When you actively listen to one of your team members you show that you care about that person’s ideas and opinions. When team members know that their ideas and opinions will be listened to then they will be more likely to share their ideas and opinions with you.

Another reason to actively listen to other people is that they will then be more likely to listen to you when it is your turn to talk. If you don’t actively listen to someone they won’t feel respected and then they will most likely develop a bad opinion of you. When they don’t respect you they will be more likely to not listen when you have something important to say. If instead you actively listen when they are talking you will show them that you respect them and they in turn will be more likely to respect you and to listen when you have something to say.

Conclusion

To be an effective leader you need to master the skill of active listening. This means listening to understand what someone is telling you instead of waiting to respond with your own ideas and opinions. When you do this you can reply to someone with questions that further the discussion and that show you have been listening. When you actively listen to someone they will feel respected and they will feel that their ideas have value.

As a leader who listens actively to his team members, you will develop a positive atmosphere where your team members will feel appreciated because their ideas and opinions are heard and not dismissed. You will show that you care about your team members ideas and opinions because you listen to them and ask questions to be sure you understand what they are saying.

When you actively listen to someone you show them that you value their input. When someone knows that you value their input they are more likely to listen to you as well and to value your own input. So remember to listen actively to your team members and as Stephen Covey says: “Seek first to understand, then to be understood”.