I was wrong! I used to think myself as an “involved listener”, but according to LSI assessment, I am a “passive listener”. Passive listeners listen with bias, impatience, inattention and a closed mind (Kumuyi, 2008). I have now realized that a person’s communication skill is not only judged on how he/she speaks but also judged on how he/she listens. I generally make judgments before the speaker completes his/her message. The next thing is my limitation to observe non-verbal cues of my team, while talking with them on the phone and sometimes poor mobile network affects communication. These weaknesses and medium-related problems have created misunderstandings and poor execution of marketing activities. When you don’t listen carefully, you don’t understand the message and you can not properly initiate actions. Paraphrasing the sender’s message can be of great help in such situations.
“Listening competency requires successful adaptation to different situations to achieve an intended or desired communication result (Lu, 2005)” It is similar to adapting different emotional intelligence styles. However, listening competency is also dependent on sender’s ability to communicate effectively. Other factors include relevance of message to the receiver, channels to be used and their possible noises, feedback and cultural differences of sender and receiver. Cultural differences determine whether the message should be modified or not and how message should be communicated.
LSI assessment is a great tool in assessing one’s listening skill. I know my weak areas, so I will be working on them. “Active listener” is what I aspire to be.
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