HBR Guide to Critical Thinking

CHAPTER 16

Three Ways Leaders Can Listen with More Empathy

by Christine M. Riordan

Study after study has shown that listening is critical to leadership effectiveness. So, why are so few leaders good at it?

Too often, leaders seek to take command, direct conversations, talk too much, or worry about what they will say next in defense or rebuttal. In addition, leaders can react quickly, get distracted during a conversation, or fail to make the time to listen to others. Finally, leaders can be ineffective at listening if they are competitive, if they multitask (such as reading emails or text messages), or if they let their egos get in the way of listening to what others have to say.

Instead, leaders need to start by really caring about what other ...