Good Leadership is about Good Communication...more importantly...Good Listening!

Yesterday was opening day of the Major League Baseball season for the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays won their opening game in 16 innings, the longest Opening Day game in Major League history. The game demonstrated to many what good leadership is about, good communication. The General Manager of the Blue Jays, Alex Anthopoulas, is 34 yrs of age and has surrounded himself with many good assistants and scouts with specific skill sets. John Farrell, the on-field Manager of the Blue Jays, has surrounded himself with great assistant coaches all with specific skill sets. What makes these 2 individuals the talk of baseball as the best up and coming Manager and General Manager is that they listen to those that they have surrounded themselves with. Farrell has access to a top flight pitching coach, hitting coach, fielding coach, bench coach...you get the idea. While Farrell as the leader has the final say in all decisions, his growth as a manger this year over last year is his ability to listen and consider all the input from those assistants around him. He went to his coaches during the game, consulted with them, listened to them, then made in-game decisions based on that input coupled with his own views and a positive result was achieved. The General Manager, Anthopoulas, has done the same thing in building the team. It has been said that he takes input from all sources within his organization and uses those to measure his own opinions. The key for both is that their first action in the process of good leadership and good decisions is good communication and that all starts with good listening.

Woodrow Wilson often said, "The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people". More to the point on listening in business is this quote..."Of all the skills of leadership, listening is the most valuable—and one of the least understood. Most captains of industry listen only sometimes, and they remain ordinary leaders. But a few, the great ones, never stop listening. That's how they get word before anyone else of unseen problems and opportunities."-  Peter Nulty, National Business Hall of Fame Fortune Magazine. It could be said that listening may the single most important key to communication that there is. I have often told people who I have managed in a Sales Management role that "you were given 2 ears and 1 mouth, use them in that ratio when selling...listen twice as much as you talk! If you want a better relationship with your kids, take the time to listen to them...want a better relationship with a partner, listen to them...want to know what is going on in your business and how the people who work for you can help you succeed...listen to them. The Conservative Party of Canada is currently run by Stephen Harper and the cracks of a leader who doesn't listen to those around him but only to his own voice are starting to show. Not listening to the information provided to him regarding the F-35 fighter jet purchase may in the end be the beginning of his downfall as a respected political leader...it can't always be about what you think...as a leader, surround yourself with good team members and then listen to enhance your success.