Do you listen to others effectively? Not listening properly will lead you to jump to solutions before getting the whole story, making stakeholders feel like they are not being heard and coming across as arrogant and uncaring.

You can ask yourself these questions:

• How good am I really at listening? Do I truly seek to understand? Or am I overly keen to get to solutions via making assumptions about what I have heard?

• Whenever stakeholders express heightened emotions (e.g., frustration), do I listen and respond empathetically?

• Am I constantly using paraphrasing to make sure I have understood?

• Do I regularly get buy-in from stakeholders or is trust an issue? Will practicing empathy help me understand both facts and feelings better so I can produce elevated results?

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