Listen to Lead

Leadership can never be underestimated.  We all want and demand it from our student-athletes.  Any avenue we can find to enhance it we all thrive on.

I found a good site… The Center for Creative Leadership, CCL. It is a pay site, but there is a FREE section with many good articles.

Below is one example I thought was particularly good for student-athletes and staff.

If you usually communicate by way of bullet points and digital technology, you may need to re-learn the art of listening.

Active listening — the willingness and ability to hear and understand — continues to be a core element of effective leadership. When you listen well, you gain a clear understanding of another’s perspective and knowledge. Listening fosters trust, respect and openness. As a result, those all-important working relationships become more solid.

To boost your listening skills, try these tips from Michael Hoppe, author of Active Listening: Improve Your Ability to Listen and Lead:

• Limit distractions. Move away from distraction so you can pay full attention to the other person. Yes, that means to silence your Blackberry and ignore your e-mail.
• Focus on the moment. Pay attention to what the other person is saying, not what you want to say. Set a goal of being able to repeat the last sentence the other person says. This keeps your attention on each statement.
• Be okay with silence. You don’t have to always reply or have a comment. Count to 10 or 20 before replying. The other person may continue after a pause; another person in the room may speak up. A pause in conversation also gives you a chance to collect your thoughts.
• Hold your thoughts. Encourage the other person to offer ideas and solutions before you give yours. Do 80 percent of the listening and 20 percent of the talking.
• Summarize. Restate the key points you heard and ask whether they are accurate. “Let me see whether I heard you correctly …” is an easy way to shift to your paraphrase.

from the Center for Creative Leadership

CCL has been studying leaders and their development for 39 years. Many of our practices have become “tried-and-true” ways to develop leaders and leadership. Here, we highlight ideas, strategies and tactics that we have developed and refined over many years and by working with many thousands of clients.

Tags: Basketball, Coaching philosophy, Leadership, Listening, Youth Basketball