THE ART OF LISTENING
Blending
Voices: The Win-Win mindset is the principle behind this alternative. It is not
important for both parties to think win-win. Only one party has to believe in
this mindset. That one party must prepare the other party by practising empathy
and deep listening until the other party feels trust.
The
most important skill in life is communication and this can be broken down into
four categories—reading, writing, speaking and listening. Of the four,
listening represents 40 to 50 per cent of communication time. Unfortunately,
only a minuscule percentage of people have been trained formally on how to
listen.
Below are the five levels of
listening:
- Ignoring.
- Pretending to listen.
- Selective listening.
- Attentive listening.
- Emphatic listening.
1. You must be willing to search for a solution
that is infinitely better than what all parties have proposed.
2.
You must agree to one simple ground rule—no one can make his or her point until
they have restated the other person’s point to his or her satisfaction.
One
Voice: pathfinding shared visions, values and strategy.
As
already stated, the Eighth Habit is a combination of attitude, skill and
knowledge. To be a great leader you need more than your trustworthiness. You
need to be able to guide people on how to become better individuals. People
need a model to see how they can work and lead in a different way. It is worth
reiterating that pathfinding is the toughest undertaking of all since you have
to deal with many issues, personalities, agendas, levels of trust and egos. To
fully comprehend and execute the pathfinding role, you must know and wrestle
with your realities. You need to clarify these four realities before you can focus
on where the organization is heading.
The Four Realities:
1.
Market realities: how do the people in the organization perceive the
marketplace?
2.
Core competencies: what are your unique strengths?
3.
Stakeholder wants and needs. Target consumers, suppliers, owners, and employee
needs.
4.
Values: central purpose of the organization.
Through
group interaction, create a written mission statement and a strategic plan. A
mission statement should include your sense of purpose, your vision and your
values. This is your goal—your roadmap. A strategic plan describes how you will
provide value to your customers and stakeholders. This is your focus. Your
strategic plan tells you how to be on track. Properly empowered mission
statements are usually produced when there are enough people who are fully
informed, who interact freely and synergistically and who are in an environment of
high trust.
Alignment and Empowering
Aligning
goals and systems for results:
The
second major source of trust is the organization. However, an organization
requires both organizational character and organizational competence. These are
the very principles that people have built into their value systems. These
principles are the basis for designing structures, systems, processes and
personal values aligned with organizational values.
Discipline
is needed at this phase. You need to be able to align your structures, systems,
processes and culture to be able to realize your vision.
Aligning
requires constant vigilance. It requires constant adjustments due to changes in
realities. Systems must be changed to keep up with the times but must also be
based on unchanging universal principles.
One
alignment tool that you can use is the Balance Score Card feedback system. This
system can inform you if your strategy is still in-line with your mission, or if
you are still on track in meeting your goals.
The Empowering Voice- Releasing
Passion and Talent
Empowerment
is the result of personal and organizational trustworthiness. It allows people
to take control, manage and organize their lives and careers.
When
people are empowered, the leader ceases to be the boss. He becomes a servant to
the organization. It shows that the leader is not afraid of losing control.
Rather, the leader is giving his people the power to take control of the things
that directly affect them.
Leaders
create a much higher degree of flexibility, adaptability and creativity by
focusing on the maturity, character and competence of each team member.
Empowerment
and Performance Appraisal
1.
How is it going?
2.
How are you learning?
3.
What are your goals?
4.
How can I help you?
5.
How am I doing as a helper?
Summary
The
Eighth Habit and the Sweet Spot
The
Eighth Habit gives you the key to understanding and unleashing both your own potential
and the potential of the other people around you. As a review, you must
remember what part each role player plays and their importance:
1.
Modelling: inspires trust without expecting it.
2.
Path-finding: creates order without demanding it.
3.
Aligning: produces institutionalized moral authority.
4.
Empowering: unleashes human potential without external motivation.
Modelling
and pathfinding give you focus. Aligning and empowerment, on the other hand,
make things happen, and are based on the permanence of focus.
Six Core Drivers to Execution
1. Clarity.
2.
Commitment.
3.
Translation.
4.
Enabling.
5.
Synergy.
6.
Accountability.
The Four Disciplines of Execution
1.
Focus on the wildly important.
2.
Create a compelling scoreboard.
3.
Translate lowly goals into specific actions.
4.
Hold each other accountable all the time.
The
seven habits you have learned from Stephen Covey’s previous book are still
relevant. However, the Knowledge Worker Age calls for the need of an 8th Habit
that can help you further in your journey towards personal and organizational
excellence.
You
must find your voice and inspire others to find theirs. Start by creating your
own personal significance. After you have done so, inspire others to do so as
well. If you are managing a team, create a trusting work environment where
people search for win-win solutions and share visions. With the 8th Habit, what
was good can only get so much better.
