Listening: a lost art
Is listening a lost art? Harvard Professor James Heskett has outlined in his HBR article his views. He says several argue that the skill of listening is on the wane. I list here excerpts from the article. He refers to Shari Morwood who said: "It starts at the top-if we as management don't listen or don't know how, we can't tap the full power of the amazing talent in our own organizations. Listening is learning." He refers to Gael who raised the question to a more universal level with her comment: "Listening to oneself requires sometimes crude and painful honesty that most people feel they can't afford." That is why, she continued, it is so important to have real friends with good memory who can be our sounding boards. "Listening to others works better if you can show empathy and put yourself in the other peoples' shoes." In his new book Quick and Nimble, based on more than 200 interviews, Adam Bryant concludes, that, among other thin