058 | The Power of Active Listening, MGW: A World Listening Day Special

Did you know that listening could be your superpower in business?

In this episode we’re celebrating World Listening Day by exploring the incredible impact of active listening on your business and personal life. 

Learn how this essential skill can boost your client connections, strengthen your team’s productivity and morale, and help you manage conflicts with empathy and effectiveness. I’ll give you practical tips to enhance your listening abilities and invite you to join a community of exceptional female leaders striving for excellence together.

Can you actively listen today? Tune in! 

In this episode, I discuss:

• How to use active listening to understand clients and provide tailored solutions.
• How to enhance team dynamics: to foster trust and collaboration for increased productivity and morale.
• How to navigate conflicts with empathy and effectiveness.
• Practical Tips: Improve your listening skills with mindfulness, nonverbal cues, and reflexive listening.

This episode at a glance:

[01:27] Did you know that mastering the art of listening can be the key to unlocking unprecedented growth in your business?

[04:08] We are  in some incredibly vitriolic and contentious times. And I feel like women are the way out. 

[04:46] Whether it's with your clients, your team, your family, your community; active listening can open doors you never thought possible. 

[05:51] Once I started doing this with my teenagers, my whole life changed. It was an eye opener. 

Resources and Links mentioned in this episode

• Free Range Thinking
• World Listening Project
• White Paper on Active Listening
• Join Female Founders Society
• Let’s connect on LinkedIn

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More about the “My Good Woman” podcast

My Good Woman is a podcast for new and future female leaders, hosted by me, Dawn Andrews.

Grab a seat at the table with me each week for candid conversations with culture-shifting, glass ceiling-busting, trailblazing women, who are leading enterprises that are making a change in the world. 

We discuss what makes them tick and how they get it all done. And we share actionable strategies to help you and your team get organized - so you can focus on your company’s growth, profit, and impact. 

If you liked what you heard, don’t forget to follow along, so you never miss an episode. And before you go, leave us a review - it would mean a lot to us!

Want to increase revenue and impact? Listen to “She's That Founder” for insights on business strategy and female leadership to scale your business. Each episode offers advice on effective communication, team building, and management. Learn to master routines and systems to boost productivity and prevent burnout. Our delegation tips and business consulting will advance your executive leadership skills and presence.

Transcript

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My Good Woman
Ep. 58 | The Power of Active Listening, MGW: A World Listening Day Special

Dawn Andrews:

We are in some incredibly vitriolic and contentious times. And I feel like women are the way out. We have the ability, the patience, the calmness to listen, be empathetic and understand another person's viewpoint.

Welcome to the My Good Woman podcast where we help female founders break past plateaus and get to the next level of business growth by refining their strategy building systems and streamlining operations.  

I'm Dawn Andrews. and The founder and CEO of free range thinking business strategy consulting. Join me each week for candid conversations, with culture, shifting glass ceiling busting trailblazing women who are leading impactful enterprises and grab their strategies to help your business reach extraordinary levels of growth. 

Hey, Hey. Hey. Welcome to another freshly baked episode of my good woman business strategy and time management for impactful female leaders. I am your host, Dawn Andrews, and I'm here to help you become a competent CEO, refine your business strategy, build a fantastic team and streamline your operations for next level growth.

And today we are celebrating world listening day by recognizing the incredible power of active listening. 

Today I'll share why I started this podcast and discuss how active listening can be a game changer in your business and your personal life.

Did you know that mastering the art of listening can be the key to unlocking unprecedented growth in your business?  

on this special episode for World Listening Day, we dive into the transformative power of active listening. Every year on July 18th, we celebrate World Listening Day hosted by the World Listening Project. Who knew? This nonprofit organization is devoted to understanding the world, its natural environment, societies, and culture through the practice of listening and field recording. And they explore acoustic ecology, a discipline that studies the relationship between humans and the natural world as mediated through sound.

 I thought that was so fascinating, you guys, especially as I was sitting here , getting ready to record this podcast and listening to an owl hoot in a tree outside my office.  

When I created My Good Woman, my goal was to build a platform where female founders like you could find strategies, insights, and inspiration to grow your business and to amplify the magnificence of other female leaders.

And today I want to take a moment to thank you so much for finding us, for listening, and for being an incredible part of this community. It continues to be such a joy to watch people find the podcast to share their thoughts and how episodes have moved them  and to have the honor and privilege of meeting and having conversations with so many fascinating, accomplished, smart, funny women.

As female founders of service based businesses, we often face unique challenges. All the challenges that come with running a business like managing teams, balancing client expectations and navigating the complexities of growth. But we also face the challenges of being women in the world. of people not treating us with respect, not providing us the same opportunities or funding,  at best treating us with preconceived notions of who will be or how we'll be, and at worst being fully biased to who we are.

 But amidst all of these challenges, one skill stands out as a vital tool for success, active listening. 

So why does active listening matter? we all know that listening matters, but what is active listening matter?

Because it enhances client relationships. And by truly listening to your clients, you can understand their needs better.

 You can provide tailored solutions and build stronger, more loyal relationships.  And then let's talk about your team dynamics. Active listening fosters a culture of trust and collaboration within your team, leading to increased productivity and morale. Who doesn't want to be deeply listened to?

I mean, seriously.  And in difficult times, being an active listener can help de escalate conflicts and find mutually beneficial solutions. And honestly, y'all, that's why I wanted to talk to you about this today. 

We are  in some incredibly vitriolic and contentious times. And I feel like women are the way out. We have the ability, the patience, the calmness , to listen, be empathetic and understand another person's viewpoint. 

And I'll share some active listening tips at the end, but I just want you to know where you are, where you're poised to be able to make a difference , in the world that we see right now.

 As an active listener, you have the opportunity to deescalate all of the shenanigans that are going on right now. I want to encourage you to take a moment today to reflect on how you can improve your listening skills, whether it's with your clients, your team, your family. Your community, active listening can open doors you never thought possible. 

Share your thoughts with us?

How has active listening impacted your business or your life? Drop me a comment, send us a message or share your story on social and use the hashtag my good woman podcast. If you haven't already, subscribe to My Good Woman on your favorite podcast platform and leave us a review to help more female founders find this resource.

Your feedback helps us grow and serve you better.

 Now let's dive into some practical tips for becoming a better active listener. 

 Tip number one, practice mindfulness. 

Be present in the moment and give your full attention to the speaker.  Turn your toes towards them, turn your body, your chest, your torso towards the person speaking and give them your full attention and take deep breaths so that you really settle into your body.

Next, pay attention to nonverbal cues.

Are you listening just with your ears to the words that are being said or are you tracking the body language and tone of voice of the person speaking, which can tell you a lot about what the speaker is really saying.

Once I started doing this with my teenagers, my whole life changed. It was an eye opener. 

Use reflexive listening, so repeat back what you've heard to confirm understanding. But make sure that your brain is actually plugged in when you're repeating it back. It's not just echoing back what they said, it's actually taking in what they've said when you reflect it back.

And finally, practice empathy. Try to understand the speaker's perspective and emotions. You may not know where they're coming from, but they might literally be trying to tell you where they're coming from, and if you were actively listening, you'd understand.  I'm just raising my hand guilty as charged sometimes.

 And then this is the kicker, this is the bonus moment. Active listening isn't just about those things. Because on the surface, all of those things can look like somebody is really listening when they're still not really listening. 

And here's how you can really divide the skilled active listeners from the pack, they ask deeper questions. 

Upon receiving information from the person that's sharing,  ask questions to help the conversation go deeper, to either help the person better understand the situation that they're sharing about, for them to get better understanding. They go deeper.

Be the person that not only takes the information in, but is committed to moving the situation forward.

 Stephen Covey, the author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, his words ring true in these moments, which is, most people do not listen with the intent to understand, they listen with the intent to reply. And according to a study by Zenger Folkman, leaders who listen effectively improve the overall performance of their teams.

 In fact, attached to the show notes is a recent white paper on active listening that I think will really help you go deeper with this. 

 Today we celebrated World Listening Day by exploring the incredible power of active listening. We talked about the importance of this skill in your business. I gave you some practical tips to enhance your listening abilities, and we discussed why I created my good woman. 

And I just, again, want to thank you for being part of this journey and for your continued support, your dedication to growing as a leader and supporting others is what makes this community so special.

 Thanks again for being here with me today. Happy World Listening Day. And don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with fellow female founders who could benefit from mastering the art of listening. Together we can create a ripple effect of positive change.  Keep striving for excellence and remember, great leaders are great listeners. And until next time,  take good care.

Thank you for joining me, my good woman. If you loved today's episode, make sure to subscribe,  consider it like getting a front row seat at the premier of the year's biggest blockbuster.  Every episode.  You wouldn't want to miss the opening scene of a cinema classic. Right? So hit subscribe to ensure you're in the audience,  popcorn in hand  for our next thrilling episode.  Don't let the credits roll without you.  See you soon.