Listen more

Two powerful words.  We all have heard the old saying, “God gave us two ears and one mouth…”.

Listen more.  Speak less.

I think the world would be a better place if we all listened more.  Listen to understand, listen to empathize, listen to educate, listen to resolve, etc.  The list goes on.  Marriage, kids, work, politics – listening more helps in every facet of our lives.  The person who speaks least benefits most and the person who speaks most benefits least because knowledge is power.  We are in an information driven world.  The more we listen, the more we learn.

How am I applying this in the workplace?  At Gannett, we’ve created a platform for listening and conduct monthly pulse surveys with quarterly general surveys.  We are increasing the number of focus group meetings to listen to the voice of our employees.  I personally conduct one- on -one meetings with the Top 100 leaders across Gannett. Our recruiting team, training team and HR business partners now proactively set up monthly/quarterly check-ins to gain feedback, ensuring that our teams are being heard.

Feedback is a gift a boss once told me.  Once we all cross the hurdle of self-denial and rationalization to actually digest the feedback and assume there is always a “bit of truth” in all feedback – we can then start to make change.  My function is a service function.  We are here to service the business – enable their success, remove obstacles and streamline anything not driving revenue or growth.  

As Warren Buffet said, “honesty is a very expensive gift, just do not expect it from cheap people”. Whenever and however you receive honest and open feedback, you should consider it a valuable gift.

Learning how to become comfortable receiving feedback is not only a crucial developmental skill, but a business imperative. The more feedback we have, the more valuable data we can collect and process.  If you hear four folks on your team compliment you on the color of the jacket you're wearing, then you know that's probably a good color for you (especially if you are color blind like me).  On a different note, if you hear from your team that you say, "ya know" too much when you present, then that becomes valuable feedback you can act on.  If you present a defensive barrier to people, where you resist their feedback, they will eventually stop giving you feedback. Which is actually worse as a leader, because you will have then modeled behavior to your team where they won't be open to hearing feedback themselves.  Additionally, we all have to filter and understand that not all feedback is 100% accurate, but in my history I would suggest it is almost always directionally correct.

The bigger role you have in your organization, and the more influence you have over things like promotions, merit increases and special projects, the more likely it becomes that you will find yourself surrounded by "yes people" - people who like to tell you whatever you think you want to hear. That's because you signaled to them that you don't like to hear bad news or criticism.  I like to ask, “is this what I want to hear or what I need to hear?”

This is the insincere and cheap feedback Warren Buffet was talking about. What you want to encourage instead is a culture of open and honest feedback without fear of reprisal.  Although it may become challenging to manage the troops when they point out the flaws of a leader, it certainly makes for better innovation and decision making.

I spoke to some of the processes Gannett is undertaking and I, personally, am working to improve my listening skills.  I had a member of my team speak about how we greet folks.  And when we say “hello, how are you?”, do we really mean it and do we stay engaged to hear the answer.  This has resonated with me.  So much, that I share it with you.  We often have so many rote behaviors throughout our day, that we miss these opportunities to connect.  I need to listen more intently.  If someone is willing to give me feedback, I need to listen and not interrupt, not prepare my rebuttal, not get emotional, not cut them off, not shut down.  Not saying I do this often, but I need to do it even less.  

I need to maintain an open attitude, ask more questions to clarify understanding, and thank folks for giving me their time and the feedback.  They must care if they are doing so.  How many of us would like our manager to tell us what we want to hear rather than what we need to hear?  Each of us wants to know the truth, no matter how difficult it is to hear.  But even though we want to hear honest and direct feedback, we generally don’t look on those occasions with much joy or pleasure.

As leaders (at every level), we need candid feedback about our performance (and our team performance) to improve. Feedback can illuminate our blind spots about behavior that we just can’t see without input from others.  Without accurate knowledge, we may adjust in the wrong direction, we may expend effort in the wrong places, and we may create even more distance between our intention and our actual impact on others.  As leaders, we need to listen to what is being said.  This doesn’t mean you have to accept it, or do it, but you do need to listen to it. 

Listen more.

Together.  We.  Win.

Dave Harmon
People Division
“Kindness is Currency”
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/davidharmonhr

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