Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Communication skills continually rank at the top of leadership competencies. When they are absent, it can be a glaring omission.

I recently experienced such a situation in which a person in authority demonstrated a total lack of listening skills, and that resulted in me feeling dismissed, angry, frustrated, and vindictive.

I tell that story in this episode of the Spirit of Leading podcast.

You might say that i ran into a brick wall. Everything I said was blocked and just ricoched back to me. But I picked up some valuable lessons and insights about what it feels like to not be heard. Among them is, A closed mind opens the door to anger and resentment.

I also offer three takeaways every leader can use to improve her or his connections and relationships through more effective listening.

In a moment of reflection, I even offer a suggestion of hofw I could have approached the situation differentlhy and, perhaps, I wold have had a better chance of getting my own message across.

Along the way, I discovered the interesting information about body language and listening.

Related links

Insights into body language