Listening Difficulties: 5 Ways to make yourself heard

If you want people to listen to you:

1. Value the person – Treat them with respect: Zig Ziglar’s famous line “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” is true. Don’t expect people to listen and learn from you until they know you have their best interest at stake and that you care for them personally; not simply what they can do for you or the organization.
2. Paint a great vision – You have to give people something worth working towards and it needs to stretch them, while still being attainable through measurable risk and hard work. When they know there’s a definite chance of success, they’ll be more willing to learn what it takes to attain it.
3. Open up - Communicate freely and frequently – Even the best visions can fade over time. People get frustrated, bored, distracted, demotivated, etc. If you want to maintain your audience's attention, you have to keep reminding them why you are doing what you are doing and show them how far they've come already!
4. Tell positive compelling stories – People are motivated by example. They want to know that what they are doing makes a difference. People will be more likely to seek your input if they know you are leading them to something of value and importance.
5. Let them Share in the reward – People only feel valued when they get to celebrate equally, in the victory. If all the recognition goes to the leader, the follower feels taken advantage of and used. They will never trust you again. If you want people to keep listening then make sure you listen to them, share the credit, minimise the failures, don't point fingers, don't attach blame, and celebrate often.

Lessons on teamwork from really bad team members

The best managers understand that effective leaders are also solid team players. The workplace is filled with capable teammates, even some who take initiative, overdeliver and inspire colleagues.

Unfortunately, there’s also the occasional employee who has no idea how to collaborate or communicate effectively.

Such poor performers aren’t entirely useless, though. They offer some of the most poignant lessons on teamwork and leadership.

Here are seven things failing team members do and what you can learn from them.

1. Complain about everyone and everything. The worst co-workers are often the most negative ones. Employees who complain regularly about others — or about circumstances in general — do little to help the team and much to hurt it. The most effective team members stay positive and find good ways to provide feedback.
2. Gossip regularly (about work or personal issues). Nothing breeds distrust and paranoia like gossiping in the workplace. Team members who spread — or worse, start — rumors are literally sowing the seeds of discord. The best team members and leaders express an interest in colleagues’ personal life bust respect everyone’s privacy and dignity.
3. Hoard knowledge. There’s nothing wrong with a lust for learning, but ineffective team members often accumulate as many secrets as possible and are loath to share helpful information with co-workers. Hoarders think their unique knowledge is valuable, but they don’t realize that unshared knowledge is useless. The best team members establish themselves as experts by becoming go-to resources in their field of specialization.
4. Talk almost completely about themselves. There’s nothing wrong with self-promotion and increasing your visibility at work, but poor team members take this quality to a fault. They’re especially likely to use words such as “I” and “me” and take individual credit for their team’s success. On the other hand, the best teammates promote their team’s success, ask lots of questions, know when to listen and use words such as “we” and “us.”
5. Play the blame game. Every team member — from executive to entry-level employee — should learn to take responsibility for his or her actions. By casting blame, workers actually diminish their sphere of influence, personal autonomy, others’ trust in them and colleagues’ respect. The most successful team members take responsibility for success and failure and right any mistake if possible.
6. Look for reasons to exclude people. Some teammates try to create small, insular groups and find every reason to limit the size and definition of their team. Such focus on exclusivity only limits the team’s perspective and options. High-performing teams cast the widest net possible and examine every reasonable solution or resource.
7. Lack empathy. It might be easy for some workers to lose sight of their teammates’ feelings, but there’s almost never a good excuse for doing so. The worst team members show an actively callous disregard for colleagues’ well-being. On the other hand, the most successful ones keep lines of communication open, pay attention to colleagues and make themselves as approachable.

If you want to become an effective, brilliant team member, take a look at your poorest-performing teammates and do the opposite.

Once you master the skills of clear and effective communication, building positive relationships at work, promoting yourself and teammates, and taking responsibility for your actions, you’ll be on your way to becoming a highly effective team leader.

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