The 4 levels of listening: Leverage this to empower employees

Listening is an important and often underappreciated skill for leaders to have. A powerful skill that can help promote better leadership, listening should not be understated.

From a business perspective, leaders who have strong listening skills are an important commodity. The power of listening was outlined in a LinkedIn article, which listed the benefits as:

• Building stronger relationships
• Enhancing understanding and empathy
• Improving problem solving
• Strengthening leadership skills
• Enhancing personal growth

From there, we can delve deeper into the different forms of listening, and according to co-founder and chief executive of Springfox, Peta Sigley, there are four levels.

“The four levels of listening that we talk about draw on a body of research. So, we are drawing on those thought leaders who do a lot of work in this space, not just one researcher, but many researchers, and then applying that into that professional context,” said Ms Sigley.

Level one: Attentive listening

Ms Sigley explained: “The first thing around listening is attentive listening. So, am I creating a space where you can empty yourself of noise?”

Level two: Accurate listening

“The second one is around accurate listening. And I think in many businesses, this is where we get stuck. This is where we can paraphrase facts and figures, but it also allows us to show understanding,” said Ms Sigley.

“[Asking], ‘Can I just check’ [or] ‘Can I just clarify?’ [is important]. And so, in terms of transfer of technical information, [it is] super helpful, but what we’re not listening to is emotions. What we’re not listening to is thinking. What we’re not trying to do is seek understanding of a position or intention of somebody. And so, it’s really based on those facts and figures.”

Level three: Empathetic listening

Ms Sigley continued: “Our third level of listening gets into that empathetic listening. So, am I hearing the emotions and the thinking and the intention behind what is happening? Is there a greater understanding holistically of what someone’s trying to say?”

“Perfect example of this is when you say to somebody, ‘How are you going?’ And they go, ‘I’m fine.’ For me, alarm bells are already ringing. Fine, for me, is a masking statement. We don’t tend to say to somebody we’re fine if we’re doing well … And so picking up the emotion, reflecting back that emotion, thinking the intention is empathetic listening. So we’re looking at the whole person.”

Level four: Generative listening

“The last one is around what we call generative listening. And this is where I’m open to having my perspectives changed. I can question my own thoughts and position on things,” said Ms Sigley.

“Not only am I seeing emotions and thinking and intention clearly in what’s being said, but I can also pick up the peripheral information that’s coming out around a situation and context in real time.”

Listening skills, like just about any other, can be built upon. Understanding the importance of listening and then identifying these four areas can help to promote strong listening skills and ultimately strengthen your skill set.