Listening Leaders Archived Edition

March 8, 2006

LISTENING LEADERS HONOR HONESTY

Listening Leaders® invest their energy and attention on separating honest communicators from dishonest communicators.

In this pursuit, productive listeners constantly tune their ears for messengers and messages that are accurate, and authentic. Concurrently, effective leaders profit from identifying dishonest messengers and messages filled with inaccurate and fictitious content.

Listening Leaders® choose to live in the light of honesty, for as William Bennett observed, “Honesty imbues lives with openness, reliability, and candor; it expresses a disposition to live in the light.” On the other hand, “Dishonesty seeks shade, cover, or concealment. It is a disposition to live partly in the dark.”

Unfortunately, we live in world with few “Honest Abe’s” and a multitude of “Pinocchio’s”. Consequently, the task of listening for and honoring honest message carriers requires the assumption of responsibility for all who aspire to be worthy leaders. Of course, all leaders who are worth following are honest. Moreover, all model listeners promote the importance of honesty in all they lead. But most important, they establish a developmental process to refine the “listening for honesty” skills of everyone within their sphere of influence. It starts with awareness; grows with practiced attention; flourishes with specific training; shines with recognition and rewards; and grows forever with ongoing honor.

Literature is replete with refreshing stories regarding the pervasive human importance of honesty. Consider “The Boy Who Never Told a Lie.”

Once there was a little boy, with curly hair and pleasant eye. A boy who always told the truth, and never, never told a lie.

And when he trotted off to school, the children all about would cry, ‘There goes the curly-headed boy, the boy that never tells a lie.’

And everybody loved him so, because he always told the truth. That every day as he grew up, ‘twas said, ‘There goes the honest youth.’

And when the people stood near would turn to ask the reason why, the answer would be always this: ‘Because he never tells a lie.’”

Although some believe there is no well-defined boundary between honesty and dishonesty for the frontiers of one blend with the outside limits of the other. Thus, some contend that those who attempt to tread this dangerous ground may be sometimes in one domain and sometimes in the other.

In several wars past, a German officer told a senior member of the British Embassy in Berlin, that the British were gentlemen, but the French were not. Asked what he meant, he explained: “One day in 1920, some of the Military Control Commission including a French and a British officer, came to the barracks of which I had charge.

They said they had reason to believe that I had a store of rifles concealed behind a brick wall, contrary to the terms of the Peace Treaty. I denied this and said, ‘I give you my word of honor as a German officer that I have no rifles concealed in the barracks.’

Well your British officer was a gentleman. He accepted my word of honor and went away. But the French officer was not a gentleman. He would not accept my word of honor. He pulled down the brick wall and took away my rifles.”

The challenge is clear as all thoughtful Listening Leaders® strive to separate the honest and dishonest and honor the honest. For as Walter Lippmann so clearly held, “He has honor if he holds himself to an ideal of conduct though it is inconvenient, unprofitable, or dangerous to do so.”

LISTENING LEADER KNOWLEDGE NUGGET: Listening Leaders® are skilled at separating the honest wheat from the dishonest chaff.

Fortunately, for every honest Listening Leader® who chooses to listen and lead from the positive position of honesty and light, history provides examples of many who listened and led from a position of dishonesty and darkness.

As a consequence, history paints a vivid and tragic picture when neither those who led, nor those who were led, listened well and did not separate the honest from the dishonest message and messenger.

As Adolph Hitler expressed only 80 years ago in Mein Kampf, “Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way around, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise.

Without honoring honesty, Hitler argued, “The size of the lie is a definite factor in causing it to be believed, for the vast masses of the nation are in the depths of their hearts more easily deceived than they are consciously and intentionally bad. The primitive simplicity of their minds renders them a more easy prey to a big lie than a small one, for they often tell little lies but would be ashamed to tell a big one.”

To support his view, Hitler believed, “All propaganda must be so popular and on such an intellectual level, that even the most stupid of those to whom it is directed will understand it. Therefore, the intellectual level of the propaganda must be lower the larger the number of people who are to be influenced by it.”

A primary antidote to combat all unethical and dishonest messages and message senders simply resides in the hands of skilled listeners who stand ready to identify and challenge every distorted and dishonest speaker. Of course it requires fulfillment of the three Stages of Listening: Preparation, Principles, and Practices and the Ten Golden Rules to Listen, Lead & Succeed, which results in Taking Action.

As Listening Leaders® throughout the world embrace the importance of modeling the attitudes and skills of listening for and to the honest voices in every quarter of their lives, their lives will dramatically change for the better. And so will the lives of those they lead.

LISTENING LEADER TIP OF THE WEEK: Challenge the dishonest voices you encounter and honor the honest.

GOLDEN CIRCLE LISTENING LEADERS QUOTES OF THE WEEK:

Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom ~ Thomas Jefferson
A commentary on the times is that the word “honesty” is now preceded by “old-fashioned” ~ Larry Wolters
When I sell liquor, it’s called bootlegging: when my patrons serve it on silver trays on Lake Shore Drive, it’s called hospitality ~ Al Capone
I will have naught to do with a man who can blow hot and cold with the same breath ~ Aesop
No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave ~ Calvin Coolidge
I am looking for an honest man ~ Diogenes
The German people have no idea of the extent to which they have to be gulled in order to be led ~ Adolph Hitler
To make your children ‘capable of honesty’ is the beginning of education ~ John Ruskin
The line of least resistance makes crooked rivers and crooked men ~ Bob Murphey

A LISTENING LEADER GIGGLE:

Joe Griffith illustrates how honesty pays in the long run with the following story about a cigar smoker who bought several hundred expensive cigars and then had them insured them against fire. After he’d smoked them all, he filed a claim, pointing out that the cigars had been destroyed by fire.

The insurance company refused to pay, and the man sued. A judge ruled that because the insurance company had agreed to insure the cigars against fire, it was legally responsible.

So the company listened to the judge and paid the claim. But when the plaintiff accepted the money, the company had him arrested for arson.

A LISTENING LEADERS KUDOS:

Kudos to every Listening Leader® who seeks and honors honesty. In the words of Henry Wotton just remember:

“How happy is he born and taught, that serveth not another’s will;

Whose armor is his honest thought, and simple truth his utmost skill!”

WE ARE LISTENING and invite your action:

Together, we can change the listening attitudes, skills, and knowledge of leaders throughout the world. We appreciate and invite your assistance in expanding our listening leader’s connections. Eight simple steps in advancing this important movement include:

Make a list of the honest and dishonest messengers that inhabit your personal and professional worlds. Then determine how you will honor the honest and deal with the dishonest.

Forward this newsletter to your children, grandchildren, friends and colleagues. More important, invite them to Subscribe to the “complimentary and weekly” newsletter by going to www.listeningleaders.com

Send us your listening leader insights, examples and stories.

Start a Listening Leaders Reading and Discussion Group. Invite your Librarian to purchase our Award winning LISTENING LEADER book.

As meeting, conference, and convention attendees spend the bulk of their time listening, please let others know of our availability to Keynote Conventions and customize Listening Leader Workshops.

Invite us to identify specific needs for listening development of leaders in your organizations.

Ask about our proven listening leader training programs and our customized in-house train-the-trainer strategies and our new Certification program.

We can help, we are committed, and we are listening.

Listen, Lead On & Make Today Count! – Manny & Rick

__________________________________________________________________

LISTENING LEADERS: THE TEN GOLDEN RULES
TO LISTEN, LEAD & SUCCEED

By Dr. Lyman K. Steil
& Dr. Richard K. Bommelje

Publisher: Beaver’s Pond Press
(ISBN 1-59298-073-2)

A pioneering book that directly connects listening with leadership.Based on more than 50 collective years of work with listening leaders throughout the world, Dr. Steil and Dr. Bommelje have created 10 practical, proven, and priceless rules to enhance everyone's listening and leadership success. Although outstanding leaders are outstanding listeners, most leaders have neglected the development of their listening attitudes, skills and knowledge.

“This is the most significant book ever written on listening and leadership and will profit leaders at all levels in all types of organizations and enterprises.” Dr. Ralph Nichols, Father of the Field of Listening

ORDER YOUR COPY at www.ListeningLeaders.com or www.amazon.com

Listening Leaders is a weekly e-mail newsletter for people who understand the value of Listening Leadership in their life.

It is brought to you by
the INTERNATIONAL LISTENING LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE
We welcome your comments, suggestions and questions.
Please e-mail: ClientServices@ListeningLeaders.com.

Also, please visit our website: www.ListeningLeaders.com

Join our Golden Circle of Listening Leaders who are spreading Listening Leadership attitude, skills and knowledge worldwide! Forward your copy to anyone you believe will benefit from reading The Listening Leaders!

COPYRIGHT AND REPRINTS
Reprint permission is granted when the following credit appears: "© International Listening Leadership Institute. Reprinted with permission from ‘“The Listening Leaders Newsletter,' a weekly Internet newsletter”. For your own personal subscription, go to www.ListeningLeaders.com"

PRIVACY STATEMENT
Your e-mail address is absolutely confidential. We will NEVER give, sell or share your address with anyone.

Subscribe Cancel Update

Dr. Lyman K. (Manny) Steil
25 Robb Farm Road
St. Paul, MN 55127
651-483-3597
LKS@ListeningLeaders.com

Dr. Richard K. (Rick) Bommelje
8530 Amber Oak Dr
Orlando, FL 32817
407-679-7280
RKB@ListeningLeaders.com

[ListeningLeaders]