Having loads of experience under your belt and stacks on stacks of certifications are great resume builders and they may get you in the door for an interview with the company of your dreams, but there’s one unspoken quality that will help boost you high above the other candidates with whom you’re competing for your new role.
Just like having a lot of friends can be great, you need something a little extra to make that thoughtful connection with people and to maintain it.
So, what does landing the job of your dreams and achieving meaningful relationships both have in common? They thrive when you practice effective listening. (PS: Let us know your thoughts in the comments on Women On Topp!)
Crucial to your level of success in your endeavors
It may seem pretty self-explanatory, but your ability to effectively listen whether it be in a professional setting or not, is absolutely crucial to your level of success in your endeavors.
Many people, believe it or not, have never actively considered their listening skills and attempted to practice effective listening. Effective listening is different than just plain old listening as it is not only hearing what someone is saying to you but hearing it with the intent to understand it, not to just respond to it.
We’ve all had a conversation where we’ve felt like the other person was just trying to speak over us or was just giving us short answers, so that we would hurry up and finish talking, so they could say what they wanted to say. In this scenario the other person was obviously not practicing effective listening. This is never a good feeling for the person on the receiving end and can make us feel like we aren’t being truly heard.
It will make you look careless
When you listen but aren’t effectively listening you can make people feel like you don’t care about what they’re saying to you or that you don’t understand where they’re coming from. This can damage relationships and straight up make people not want to engage with you.
If you want to implement effective listening to foster a better relationship with your partner or to land that amazing job or just because, when you find yourself having a discussion with someone, mindfully focus on what they’re saying and don’t try to interject. Take in what they’re saying without making judgements and try to understand how they feel about what they’re telling you.
You can of course give them a response, it would be kind of weird if you didn’t answer, but truly listen to what they’re saying and reply in a way that complements what they’ve told you. A lot of times when we don’t practice effective listening, we change the subject very easily or go off on a tangent leaving the other person to feel very unfulfilled by the conversation. By thoughtfully thinking about what the other person has said, we can respond thoughtfully and make them feel like we really listened to them and care about what they’re saying.
If you practice effective listening in interviews, at work, and in your personal life, you will be successful, because people want to work with and be around genuine people who listen and care about what they have to say.
Try out effective listening and see how it works for you.
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