The Accountant-May-June 2017

PEN OFF
questions effectively open your ears. It’s
having a beginner’s mind-set walking into
a conversation.”
Be ready to learn from the other
person: while you cannot control someone
else’s listening habits, you can control your
own, and that involves quieting down
your mind.“Turn off those agendas,” says
Gregersen. “Really listen to what someone
else is trying to say. We need information
that is disconfirming, not confirming. If
we ever finish a conversation and have
learned nothing surprising, we weren’t
really listening.”
Be ready to think about what is being
said and be ready to ask questions: one of
the simplest ways to be a better listener
is to ask more questions than you give
answers, says Gregersen. When you ask
questions, you create a safe space for
other people to give you an unvarnished
truth.“Listening with real intent means
I’m going to be open to being very
wrong, and I’m comfortable with that in
this conversation,” says Gregersen. “In
a world that’s getting more polarized,
being able to listen is critical to reducing
unnecessary conflict at any level, within
a team, organization, or on a broader
political country level,” he says.
Measure your talk/listen ratio: this
may be taking things a little too far, but
strive for a 2:1 ratio of listening to talking,
says Eblin. “If you’re a note taker during
meetings or conversations, try keeping
track of how much you listen versus
how much you talk,” he says. “Mark off a
section of the paper and write down the
names of all the people on the conference
call. Whenever a person talks for more
than a sentence or two, put a check mark
by his or her name. That includes you, too.
The visual representation of comparing
listening to talking might hold some
lessons for you.”
A number of problems interfere
with people’s ability to understand
accurately what another person is trying
to communicate, says Adam Goodman,
director of the Center for Leadership
at Northwestern University. “Am I
anticipating what the other person is
about to say? Do I agree or disagree with
what’s being said? Maybe I’m agreeing
too quickly and, upon reflection, I’d
find myself disagreeing later?” he asks.
“Put simply, there’s more opportunity to
misunderstand then there is to actually
understand.”Instead, implement a
process called active listening. “It’s been
Be ready to learn
from the other
person: while you
cannot control
someone else’s
listening habits,
you can control
your own, and that
involves quieting
down your mind. -
says Gregersen
around for a long time, and works if
done correctly,” says Goodman. The basic
concept is repeating back to the speaker
what you heard. If the speaker agrees that
what you heard is what he or she intended
to say, you can move on. If not, the speaker
needs to reword their statement until the
listener really does understand.
Be ready to wait for the person to
finish speaking before you start talking:
the most difficult component of listening
effectively is waiting for a period at the
end of a sentence before formulating a
reply, says Leslie Shore, author of ‘Listen
to Succeed’.“When we begin working
on a reply before the speaker is finished,
we lose both the complete information
being offered and an understanding of the
kind of emotion present in the speaker’s
delivery,” she writes in her book.This is
dangerous, says Gregersen. “When I’m
the most important thing in the world,
that’s the moment when I’m most likely
to be thinking about next thing I’m
going to say instead of listening to you,”
he says. “At the very core, that’s what
going on; I’m declaring to the world I
am more important than you. That’s an
uncomfortable moment of self-awareness,
and a self-serving way of approaching
life.”
We all require self-focus, but leaders
who make a difference are the ones
who know the purpose is bigger than
themselves, says Gregersen. “When a
leader is operating on the edge of what’s
possible, they’re in strong listening mode,”
he says.
The Institute of Internal Auditors
speaks of “comprehensive listening” - the
listener is trying to take in everything
the speaker is putting out: words,
tone of voice, body language. Often,
comprehensive listening cannot occur
early on when meeting someone for the
first time, because the listener does not yet
know enough to take in all the material.
“Critical listening” involves forming
opinions about what is being said,
making inferences and separating fact
from opinion. “Relationship listening”
is about getting to know the speaker
instead of simply hearing the speaker’s
words, understanding the person instead
of understanding the message. This is the
sort of listening that helps build rapport.
The Institute of Internal Auditors
advises you to know your listening style.
The accountant should be able to apply
a variety of listening styles depending
on the situation: understanding the
listening styles of others can help you
deliver messages better.“People listeners”
show concern for others’ feelings; they
can exhibit empathy. “Action listeners”
are focused on the actual words, especially
the content that is action-oriented.
“Content listeners” take their time
digesting material, valuing information
that is complex. As opposed to action
listeners, content listeners will be more
likely to take into account the opinion
of the speaker. “Time listeners” are the
watch-tappers; they value only the most
basic and vital information. This is a style
that would seem to have a negative effect
on speakers, but time listeners tend to
excel at time management and can keep
speakers on task.
Whatever your style, you will be a
better accountant, and a better person, if
you improve your listening skills.
72 MAY - JUNE 2017