Responses

Cortney Cook Discussion

Hello class!

This was a really fun assignment in my personal opinion. In my experience with the listening activity, I listened to the recording one time only. I did this on purpose, as I really wanted to get a true representation of my listening skills for this discussion. After listening to the recording and taking the quiz, I will be honest, I am disappointed in myself, in a joking way of course. However, I do realize that I only took maybe 2 things from the entire recording. I took away that there was a robbery and that the person who robbed a place got away. I took away from this assessment that listening is critical and not only is it critical in everyday life, but it is definitely a skill that leaders must utilize on a daily basis. Leaders should not only learn to listen, but they should also learn to be effective listeners. By this, I am saying that an effective listener not only listens but also knows and understands how to respond effectively, creating a potential following that is positive. A leader who listens and responds effectively has the potential to gain respect and reciprocation of that same listening and response from their followers. According to the “Why Listening Matters for Leaders” article, “Listening is reciprocal, and leaders can model this behavior; when you are a good listener, people will tend to listen more carefully to you, as well. Thus, listening is a powerful tool for increasing influence and improving relationships at work. The best listeners in an organization are also frequently the biggest influencers” (Gunsalus, Luckman, Burbules, & Wraight, 2019 ). In the context of change, leaders need to be able to create positive relationships where others trust that the changes being made are indeed good decisions/changes.

References

Gunsalus, C., Luckman, E. A., Burbules, N. C., & Wraight, S. (2019 , October 24 ). Why Listenign Matters for Leaders. Retrieved from Inside Higher Ed : https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2019/10/24/why-and-how-academic-leaders-should-become-better-listeners-opinion#:~:text=Listening%20shows%20respect%20and%20regard,carefully%20to%20you%2C%20as%20well.

Denita Discussion:

          A person who displays good listening skills is someone prepared to be open to the understanding of others' needs and capture the information that is being received to be incorporated with one self-view. Listening by paying attention to verbal and non-verbal messages is the ability to receive the information fully while being involved in the process of engagement. Effective leaders that can be active listeners can create trusting relationships with their staff, which creates an atmosphere of a great working environment. Active leaders need to also engage themselves in important matters to employees, which hold them accountable for their actions. Establishing a two-way relationship between the leaders and staff verifies that as a leader, I hear and understand your concern to make a solution to resolve the problem. 

           The International Listening Association website states that 85% of our learning comes from listening, 75% are distracted or retain the information, and 50% can recall what they hear immediately. In comparison, your day is 45% listening time, with 20% of people only remember what they hear overtime (Mackay, 2013).  The short passage is listening assignment really put in perspective how you can hear things one way, and it is illuminated differently when need to be communicated between individuals. Although the passage gave a clear vision of what event transpired, assumptions were made because one may think or see how the individual wants the invention to happen. Just as the question was the robber a man, one would assume a man because that assumption we have as robbers to be a male, but the passage does not state a specific gender of the robber. Active listeners need to get the full understanding of a situation, buy listening several times and asking a detailed follow-up question, so there will not be any assuming, and the story will have a clear non-bias vision. 

           With supportive evidence of an active listener from the leadership level comes from the case study of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, from their former dean Ted Snyder in 2007, which formed a curriculum review committee to determine what the school could do better for their course curriculums (Datar, Garvin, Weber, 2008). By the dean putting in place a review committee to review the current curriculum, this gives the skills that he is open for new discussion to reconstruct the academic functions of the institution to better the student learning abilities and skills. Snyder is displaying the change-capabilities of a leader by communicating the what and why the curriculum needs to change, collaborating with other people such as the curriculum review committee to plan the curriculum changes, and commitment to see the changes flourish with devoted time and how it will affect student outcomes. The continuous feedback from internal and external stakeholders will allow for future leaders to have successful changes along the way. 

 

Resources

· Mackay, Harvey (2013). Mackay: The Power of Listening  https://www.startribune.com/mackay-the-power-of-listening/291105411/

· Datar, S., Garvin, D., & Weber J., (2008). University of Chicago Graduate School of Business – Harvard Business School  https://services.hbsp.harvard.edu/lti/links/content-launch