Listen

By Sandra Richardson &

Oluwaseyi Akinruntan

Every successful leader had a mentor or spiritual path to follow that guided their path to success. Then, while steering toward success, they listened carefully to how things had to be done.

Listening is a fundamental expression of communication that may not be widely considered. Not listening means we do not care about the person or the topic they are speaking about at that time. Despite not intending to be rude, a person may be focusing more on someone or something else than the subject or person requesting our attention.

Many factors to success have been presented endlessly. It must be noted, however, that listening is a critical and even indispensable factor in success.

Interestingly, listening is a form of observation. A company that lacks an effective observatory system within its operational framework would not be in the best position to determine, perceive or ascertain vital considerations crucial to its continued existence.

Some of the most critical observations made when listening to customers include:

· Demand for its products or services

· Perception of its brand

· Competitiveness of its pricing

· The attractiveness of its overall interface with the public and, more specifically, its target

· customers

· Effectiveness and profitability of its operations

· How future-proof a business's products or services are as a need

Obviously, there can be many observations gained from listening. However, capturing all of those considerations depends on the presence of a listening system and culture within an organization's operational framework.

Life experiences may affect our ability to listen actively to others. For example, there may be instances where a negative personal or business-related experience causes some business owners, by default, to a state where they do not even want to listen. This is because they are not confident that doing so will benefit them.

Ultimately, a business goes too long without listening to the customer and not providing what is needed or wanted. The business owner can hope to remain in operation without listening to its customers, but in many cases, in the long run, the business fails.

There are other situations where business owners have selective listening—weeding out the unpleasant, although actual facts, and listening to people only when there is a clear awareness of how profitable the information would be for them. Hence, they are more likely to listen in situations with a positive outlook. For a business, listening to unpleasant situations or facts and fulfilling its customers' needs should be its natural disposition.

However, a business's executive team and lead management cannot afford to not listen at the risk of missing the opportunity to fulfill a need with its products and services.

Communication is a critical skill if there is to be any measure of success in life. That is even more so with a business, an entity conceived and built with the ultimate objective of generating revenue and profits.

The very ability of a business to be what it claims to be is in listening. Communication is understood to describe the ability to express oneself. Craft and express in a way that is clear, effective, and calls to action. However, a vital part of effective communication is listening.

Genuinely caring for people shows in everything a business does, from listening to its employees and customers to its contractors and all stakeholders. However, listening should be constant and a part of the framework of the business structure.

Listen.

It is the key to success in your business.