Listening : A Silent Hero

In the chapter four , the auther is mainly focused on the listening skill that is most frequently used. The auther try to differentiate hearing with listening.Listening is needed for more than just learning and remembering. It is also needed to make important decisions and to understand your fellow employee and client needs.Hearing is defined as, the involuntary physiological process of receiving sound waves through receptors in the ear that transmit them to the brain. Hearing is not the same as listening. You can hear sounds without actually listening to them. When you listen, you are hearing, selecting, attending, interpreting, and remembering sounds.There are several different types of listening processes. Active listening is intrapersonal and interactive. You actively focus on, interpret, and respond verbally and nonverbally to messages. Critical listening requires the listener to comprehend information, make assessments, and decisions about the information they are hearing. Sensitive listening is a supportive process. The listener demonstrates empathy towards the speaker, when the speaker is sharing their thoughts and feelings. This process requires full attention from the listener, and judgment making towards the speaker is out of the question. You must allow the speaker to vent and pay attention to their point of view. When a group discussion is taking place, and people are sharing, identifying, and exploring each other’s meanings and perspectives, it is called dialogue listening. Listening to the sound of waves, or leaves rustling in the wind is called pleasure listening. The sounds are enjoyable, comforting, and relaxing. Casual listening is an informal process of listening. During conversational casual listening, the listener has to listen and speak, but they don’t listen effectively and they don’t concentrate on all the messages or respond to all of them. Polite casual listening is applied when an uninterested listener has to listen to a speaker. The listener appears to be paying attention but is really not, they are just doing it to be polite. It is important to hone one’s listening skills since it’s used more frequently than any other skill in the business world. Hearing a person talk is not the same as listening to them speak. Being a good listener is highly beneficial in the business world.
The human brain is built for conversation, but we achieve better results when we think strategically about listening and make a few simple, deliberate choices that support our conversational goals. Your skill as a listener can make or break your success in leadership, teams, customer relationships, and negotiation.