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The Active Listening Skill Set

Active listening is a person’s willingness and ability to hear and understand. Many of us intuitively know what active listening looks, sounds, and feels like. However, we may not know what to do to be successful at it. By learning the skills and behaviors of active listening, leaders can become more effective listeners and, over time, improve their ability to lead.

It is useful to think of active listening as an exchange between people. On one level, the quality of a conversation can be improved when one person is engaged in active listening. Leaders who practice active listening are able to draw out more information and more meaningful information during a conversation. At its most engaging and effective, active listening is the norm for conversation and everyone involved is a full participant. It involves bringing about and finding common ground, connecting to each other, and opening up to new possibilities.

Active listening involves six skills: paying attention, suspending judgment, reflecting, clarifying, summarizing, and sharing. Each skill contributes to the active listening mind-set, and each skill includes various techniques or behaviors. These skills are not mutually exclusive. For example, paying attention isn’t something you stop doing when you suspend judgment. Nor are the skills consistently weighted in importance. In one conversation, clarifying may take much effort and time; in another conversation, gaining clarity and understanding may be quick and easy.