Listening Leaders Archived Edition

September 2, 2009

LISTENING LEADERS SUPPORT STUDIOUS STUDENTS

Listening Leaders® of all stripes hold a profound opportunity to advance society by supporting studious students within their reach. As school bells begin to ring for another year, it is important to remember the wisdom of the British poet, Alexander Pope, who said, “’Tis education forms the common mind. Just as the twig is bent, the tree’s inclined.”

To that end, students of all ages must be reminded that their attitude, skill, and knowledge (ASK) of Listening lie at the heart of their educational success. Regardless of the numerous technological advances, and some will argue potential intrusions, of our present day, classrooms at all grade levels continue to remain primarily filled with the spoken word. Productive listening remains central to meaningful life-long learning.

More than 50 years ago, Dr’s. Ralph Nichols and Leonard Stevens, concluded in their popular book, Are You Listening? ,“In this age of the spoken word, it is no longer wise to allow our children to proceed through school with little or no formal attention to listening. In the need for it, our educators in the not to distant future, are certain to find ways of including listening training in their curriculums…. When this transpires, we shall have taken a long stride toward greater economy in learning, accelerated personal growth, and significantly deepened human understanding.”

Although Nichols and Stevens were overly optimistic regarding educators commitment to “find ways of including listening training in their curriculums”, their overall conclusion remains sound. “It is still “no longer wise to allow our children to proceed through school with little or no formal attention to listening.”

However, as educators have been largely remiss in providing systematic listening training for all ages, the present day challenge falls largely to Listening Leaders® everywhere. School Boards, administrators, teachers, parents, and students must step forward. Listening training must be included in all schools and at all levels. Responsibility rests on the shoulders of all.

School Boards must add “Listening” as a priority subject in the schools they lead. School Administrators must fund and schedule listening training for the teachers they manage. Teachers must create listening development opportunities for the students they teach. Students must assume ultimate responsibility for their individual listening behavior. Parents, taxpayers and Listening Leaders® must support the ultimate scholarship of all studious students. It is time to follow the powerful advice of Vince Lombardi, who constantly argued that the most important rule was to always, “Start by teaching the fundamentals.”

To paraphrase the British historian George Macaulay Trevelyan, anything less, and we will continue to experience, “Education that has produced a vast population able to listen but unable to distinguish what is worth listening to.”

The bottom line challenge is simple; take some studious students under your wing. Help them focus on the importance of listening. Introduce them to the wisdom and action steps in our award winning book, Listening Leaders: The Ten Golden Rules to Listen, Lead & Succeed, and watch their scholarship soar.

LISTENING LEADER® KNOWLEDGE NUGGET: Listening Leaders support studious students.

For all studious students interested in becoming more productive listeners in all learning arenas the following four benchmarks are worth knowing and acting upon.

First, and foremost, it is imperative to assume the predominant responsibility for your success as a listener. Depend primarily on yourself to fully sense, understand, evaluate, store, and respond (SIER) to the spoken messages of others. Find the “best listening seat” in every learning situation. Remember the mantra, “When it comes to listening, if it’s going to be, it’s up to me.”

Second, establish a “listening action plan that includes listening for value moments of listening (VM of L’s). Establish your and your teacher’s purpose of the moment. Tune into “WIIFM” and focus on “what’s in it for me”. Consider the time-tested wisdom of G. K. Chesterton, who long ago observed, “There is no such thing as an uninteresting topic or issue; there are only uninterested people.” Knowledge of value comes from many sources when we listen on purpose with an open mind and laser focus.

Third, plan to report the essence of what you learn to someone specific within 24 hours. Coupled with taking efficient notes, retention will be increased. Remember, as B. F. Skinner noted, “Education is what survives when what is learned has been forgotten.”

Fourth, control the multitude of distractions, both internal and external. Focus on the moment, clarify your purpose, find productive listening locations, withhold your evaluations, take meaningful action, and move to the top of your class.

Recommend and reinforce these four concrete action steps and you will contribute to the success of any and all studious students you have the privilege to support. When followed, studious students will become the prize in the eyes of teachers everywhere. For as Maria Montessori so aptly observed, “We teachers can only help the work going on, as servants wait upon a master.” Ultimately students must be the masters of their own listening and learning fate.

LISTENING LEADER TIP OF THE WEEK: Help the students you know become Listening Masters.

GOLDEN CIRCLE LISTENING LEADERS QUOTES OF THE WEEK:

They know enough who know how to learn ~ Henry Brooks Adams
Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability ~ Francis Bacon
A whale ship was my Yale College and my Harvard ~ Herman Melville
For every person wishing to teach, there are thirty not wanting to be taught ~ W. C. Sellar
I have learned to be a better student, and to be ready to say to my fellow students ‘I do not know’ ~ William Osler
Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another ~ G. K. Chesterton
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet ~ Lida Clarkson
Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon~ E. M Foster
Education makes us what we are ~ Claude-Adrien Helvétius

A LISTENING LEADER GIGGLE:

Bored during a long flight, an eminent scholar woke the sleeping man next to him and asked if he would like to play a mind game.

“I’ll ask you a question,” the scholar explained, “and if you don’t know the answer you pay me five dollars Then you ask me a question, and if I don’t know the answer, I’ll pay you fifty dollars.”

When the man agreed to play, the scholar asked, “What’s the distance from the earth to the moon?” Flummoxed, the man handed him five bucks. “Ha!” said the all-knowing scholar. “It’s 238,857 miles. Now it’s your turn.”

The man was silent for a few minutes, and then asked, “What goes up a hill with three legs and comes down with four?” Puzzled, the scholar racked his brains for several minutes, but to no avail. Finally he took out his wallet and handed over fifty dollars.

“Okay, okay, what is the answer?” the bright scholar asked.

To which his seatmate simply said, “I don’t know” pulled out a five dollar bill, handed it to the eminent scholar, and went back to sleep forty dollars richer.

LISTENING LEADERS KUDOS

Congratulations and Kudos to all members of the International Listening Association, who since 1979 have served as both the listening scholars and the supporters of studious listening students around the world. Advancing theory, research, and practice in all walks of life, the ILA members are to be congratulated. If you would like to join their ranks, just drop us an email. In the meantime, kudos to all who choose to actively support the listening of studious students!

LISTENING LEADER TOOLS AVAILABLE TO YOU.

Subscribe to Dr. Rick's e-newsletter LEADERSHIP SEEDS by sending an email to RKB@ListeningLeaders.com The leadership seeds content takes 90 seconds to read and a lifetime to master.
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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:

Support the listening education and activities of studious students.

Forward this newsletter to your children, grand children, 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 Certification program.

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

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

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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

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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

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