Question-Week ending Sunday 09/07/03:
Listening Skills are essential in satisfying NEEDS. In your opinion, which group of Professionals on our list typically has the BEST Listening Skills? Please read our Poll Commentary before taking this poll.
Pre-Poll Commentary:
Good Listening Skills are essential if you want to be effective in life. They are acquired skills that take a conscious effort to improve. Surrounding us are distractions and noises that bombard us constantly. It takes focus and caring about the individual you are communicating with to "truly listen" to them.
Consider the following:
- Hourly employees may spend 30 percent of their time listening vs. speaking
- Managers may spend 60 percent of their time listening vs. speaking
- Executives typically spend 75 percent or more of their time listening vs. speaking
Thus, the higher up the latter you progress in your career, the more being an EXCELLENT LISTENER becomes CRITICAL to your SUCCESS.
Business leaders consistently rank listening among the top five skills they expect employees to have. They realize that a mistake in understanding can cost thousands or millions of dollars. On the other hand, by listening carefully to a customer or an employee suggestion, they can realize a product or service becoming an extraordinary winner earning millions of dollars.
A good Listener:
- Uses proper eye contact
- Is attentive and alert
- Asks proper and proven questions
- Is patient and careful not to interrupt the other person
- Paraphrases, restates and summarizes what the other person says.
- Is empathetic and interested in the other person's needs
- Is caring and willing to listen.
- Never criticizes or judges the other person
- Remains open-minded toward what is being said
For years I have been writing about and attempting to teach others to hone their listening skills if they want to progress quickly in their career paths and earn more income. The BEST in all fields of endeavor usually have great listening skills.
Let us know in this week's poll which group of Professionals on our list typically has the BEST Listening Skills? This poll will end on Sunday 09/21/03, when the results will be displayed.
Our polls and commentaries are enjoyed by hundreds of individuals weekly, with previous polls featured in the top ten of search engines like Google and Yahoo.
Results:
- 55% of voters chose Doctors as the Professional Group that has the BEST Listening Skills
- 21% of voters chose Teachers as the Professional Group that has the BEST Listening Skills
- 13% of voters chose Investment Advisers as the Professional Group that has the BEST Listening Skills
- 11% of voters chose Real Estate Salespeople as the Professional Group that has the BEST Listening Skills
- 00% of voters chose Auto Mechanics as the Professional Group that has the BEST Listening Skills
- 00% of voters chose New Car Salespeople as the Professional Group that has the BEST Listening Skills
Post-Poll Commentary:
In this week's poll, Doctors were the overwhelming choice of Professionals who seem to have the best listening skills. It is absolutely critical to the patient's health, that doctors in all fields ask the proper questions and listen intently to their patient's answers, so that they may take the proper steps toward testing, diagnosing and treating each condition.
This same procedure described above for doctors, is exactly the procedure that should be followed by Auto Mechanics. Critical questioning and intense listening by the repair shop owner or service writer can help bring about quick and efficient solutions to fix ailing vehicles.
In fact all of our professions listed in this poll as well as most other professional disciplines all benefit by being Great Listeners. Thus, it is quite obvious that Leaders in all fields would benefit tremendously, by developing Great Listening Skills.