Do you think you need to improve your listening skills? Even if you don’t, check out this factoid — we spend 65% of our interactions with others listening to them, yet we retain only 25% of what we hear. Wow, what does say about our listening? And, why are we not listening? One reason may be that we have acquired or developed habits along our road to success that keep us from being good listeners. FastCompany gives five tips for becoming a better listener for Type A personalities. But, their tips are applicable to all of us. In fact. I think most successful business owners and professionals have developed some Type A behaviors along their road to success. I know that I’ve been trying to weed out a few of these not-so-nice attributes.

1. Recognize That Listening Is Worth Your Time

Every person has value and we can learn from their experiences. By actively listening to other person, we may encounter a valuable piece of information or lesson that we can apply to our lives. Keep in mind that the most “simple” of people often make profound observations of situations.

2. Tap Into The Persons Emotions

We can improve our listening by focusing on the how something is said first then the what was said. In other words, one way to engage is to look for the emotions behind the content. This will help you read in between the lines.

3. Wait. Observe. Allow.

This one is a hard one. Why? Because a successful person thinks that she or he has all the answers and solutions. I often have to remind myself that because someone is sharing information with doesn’t mean that they’re looking for a solution from me. I’ve been working with this tip and have found that’s harder than it sounds. But, repeating “Wait, wait, wait” to myself has curbed my natural inclination to interject my two cents before the other person finishes.

4. Ditch The Mental Multitasking

No matter how slow the other person is to get to his or her point, we need to stop thinking about wait “to do” item is waiting for us to handle. Most experts agree that multi-tasking is not productive at all. In fact, as we’re thinking about another project or task, we may miss an important point that the speaker is trying to make. And, certainly, it is embarrassing to ask him/her to repeat themselves because we were mentally absent from the conversation. That behavior won’t speak well for leaders.

5. Use This Script

This tip is connected to #3. One way to express your engagement while withholding your opinion and solution is to say “I hear you”. These three words lets the speaker know that you’re listening yet remaining neutral.

Even if you master only one or two of the tips, I think you’ll find yourself being valued as a good listener and, ultimately, as a strong leader.

See more at FastCompany.com

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