Listening: SpiritBuilt Leadership 12

Listening is one of the most important of all leadership skills. An unending parade of relational conflict and unnecessary organizational errors will follow the leader who is not a good listener. Someone said, "God gave us two ears but only one mouth. Some people say that's because He wanted us to spend twice as much time listening as talking. Others claim it's because He knew listening was twice as hard as talking." Both speaker and listener share the responsibility for successful communication. As the ancient Greek philosopher Plutarch wrote, "Just as in playing ball it is necessary for the catcher to adapt his movements to those of the thrower and to be actively in accord with him, so with discourse, there is a certain accord between the speaker and the hearer, if each is heedful of his obligation." Good leaders are effective listeners. Listening will help God's leaders around the world be more effective listeners and better leaders.