Listening vs hearing full#

Now, just two weeks into her latest job, she was interviewing with yet another company.

Listening for the вЂњwhy.вЂќ I received a call this week from a friend wanting to discuss his 27-year-old daughter who had just changed full-time jobs for the fourth time in five years.

And when they feel validated, they outperform. And when theyвЂ™re motivated, they feel validated. When people are listened to, theyвЂ™re motivated. Sure, listening takes time-that most precious of commodities. As David Dotlich, PhD, a senior leader in our Consulting business who advises CEOs and boards, told me this week, вЂњToday, the biggest gifts we can give others are our attention and our willingness to listen. For leaders, this starts with not simply hearing, but rather listening-particularly to what we donвЂ™t want to hear.Д«ut if we only listen to people who look like us and think like us, then all weвЂ™re going to hear is вЂ¦ well, us. Today, itвЂ™s about finding a new way-taking the best from the old world and bringing it into the new. вЂњItвЂ™s surreal, isnвЂ™t it?вЂќ Immediately, all 19 people in that room started nodding, smiling, and sharing their own experiences.ДЄs the days have turned into weeks, the weeks into months, and the months into almost two years, what had been organic became inorganic.

Listening vs hearing full#

So, I turned to this room full of people-none of whom IвЂ™d met before-and told them what I was feeling. It truly felt like an out-of-body experience. It struck me that so much of what we used to do by rote had become oddly unfamiliar-even packing my bag, shaking hands, or sitting in that conference room. That aha moment came for me this week when I traveled cross-country and found myself in a hotel conference room full of people for the first time in 18 months. Now we need to be more radically human-vulnerable, authentic, empathetic, aware. If the past year and a half has taught us anything, itвЂ™s that those days are over. It was just incredible to see 10 people on my screen-all completely aligned.вЂќ вЂњOne personвЂ™s hand wavered a little bit, but in the end, it was вЂthumbs upвЂ™ as well. вЂњAnd how did that work out?вЂќ we asked him. Before they voted, I told them that, for me, this was definitely a вЂthumbs up.вЂ™вЂќ So, I went around to everyone and asked for a вЂthumbs upвЂ™ or a вЂthumbs downвЂ™ on my idea. вЂњDuring a Zoom meeting with my team, we had a particularly important decision to make. When we asked him about his process for getting buy-in from his team, the executive couldnвЂ™t wait to give an example. I can distinctly remember the interview we conducted with an executive at the start of the pandemic. вЂњEvery time we have a discussion, thereвЂ™s complete alignment-100 percent buy-in.вЂќ It sounded too good to be true-and, as it turned out, it was.

Gary BurnisonВ is CEO of Korn Ferry and the author of Leadership U: Accelerating Through the Crisis Curve.