Sally Ride’s Leadership Secrets

Martha Forlines & Thad Green — Wed, 12 May 2010 07:40:08 +0000

Recap of Leader Quick Tip: Sally Ride puts listening as top quality of a good leader
There are other views.

1. “Leaders are supposed to tell, employees are to listen.”
2. “I don’t have time to run around listening to everybody!”
3. “I’d listen more if people had something worthwhile to say.”
4. “I get everything I need to know from my weekly (or daily) management reports.”

Why then does Sally Ride put so much emphasis on listening?

1. Leaders are faced with an information void. They don’t have enough information to lead effectively.
2. Listening does something technology can’t do—it lets you get inside a person’s head and shine a light on information you can’t get anywhere else.

If you don’t listen, where else will you get impressions, perceptions, opinions, observations, and experiences of savvy, experienced people on your team and in your larger organization?

What better way than listening can you uncover problems-causes-solutions, and wants, needs, and priorities of those you lead?

Why do leaders often shy away from listening?

1. Fear of hearing (mainly the truth)
2. Trust (employees don’t trust the leader, leader doesn’t trust employees)
3. Lack of training (how many active listen techniques can you name?)

How can you make listening work for you?

1. Line up some training for you and your managers
2. Get some coaching on how to listen and lead better
3. Consulting may be necessary to get people in low trust environments to open up

If you are interested in how we can help you close the information gap on your team or in your organization, call Martha at 678.576.5207.

All the best to your success,
Martha Forlines and Thad Green

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Sally Ride’s Leadership Secrets