Listening Leaders: The Ten Golden Rules to Listen, Lead & Succeed

The belief that listening is a key ingredient to success as a leadership sits on the same pedestal as Motherhood, Apple Pie, and The Flag. However, just because we respect the importance of listening doesn't mean that we know what to do...or do it very well. Now we have a guidebook. Steil and Bommelje are widely respected as experts in the fine skills of effective listening, so they are well-qualified to write this book. Their credentials are impeccable. The book presents ten "golden rules" of listening leadership, organized as Preparation, Principles, and Practices...which lead to taking Meaningful Action. The authors nicely tie together good listening skills and leadership, showing how each skill contributes to and supports the other. Effective listening enables you to be a good leader, and effective leadership encompasses good listening. Page after page is filled with teaching, practical advice, and examples of how real leaders use their listening skills to enhance their work. I was struck by the broad variety of leaders cited and with what they had to share through the authors. The wise range of people used as examples in the book serves to reinforce the universality of the principles. The way the teachings of the exemplary leaders are intertwined with the balance of the text enriches the readability of the book: it's almost storytelling-a highly readable novel or collection of vignettes. Adding value to the book is a list of the cited leaders, providing each individual's title and organization and the chapter where the leader's advice or experience is shared. The book also provides a list of resources for further research and a helpful index. Summaries at the end of each chapter make it even easier to acquire the vast knowledge included in these pages. Recommended for current-and future-leaders who seek to strengthen their listening skills and their leadership effectiveness.

The authors have successfully established an integral relationship between effective listening and effective leadership. Insights, advice and strategies supplied by numerous contributors testify to a key premise of the book...Effective listening and effective leadership are inseparable. This complete and connected approach to Listening Leadership Development makes an excellent resource. It delivers what it promises........ Rules and tools for listening leaders: to thrive on in their professional and personal lives, to develop other listening leaders and to build listening organizations

I am enjoying, "Listening Leaders". It is laid out like a well crafted sermon. The points are clear. The use of review is instructive. The illustrations are illuminating. This is not just a self-help book, it is a self-teaching book. For learning not to take place, the reader would purposely have to put a stop to it.

In Listening Leaders, the co-authors reveal through interviews with hundreds of accomplished leaders, the secret to their success: they learn because they listen. If you are looking to enhance your leadership abilities, this is one area that allows you to mine your employees for their ideas and also give them the highest form of recognition: listening. The leaders' quotes and models in this book will inspire and help you grow your listening skills.

In Listening Leaders Manny Steil and Rick Bommelje have exhaustively researched and culled extraordinary wisdom from more than 100 leaders found in all corners of the world. And the message from corporate CEOs, military officers, political bosses, academic groundbreakers and front line employees is consistent: building and maintaining a 'culture of listening' is paramount to any and every organization's success. Drs. Steil and Bommelje have done an exceptional job in demonstrating that listening is multifaceted and complex activity that is learnable and, like the road less traveled, can make all the difference. ~ Mark Brady, Ph.D. Author, A Little Book of Listening Skills and editor of The Wisdom of Listening