Listen...to the research

📚4 Listening Skills Every Leader Needs🎯

I found so much useful from this HBR article.  It's written for business leaders, but you'll see the parallels to ministry pretty quickly.  Long story short: it’s time to stop talking and start listening. Harvard Business Review lays it out plain and simple: these 4 listening skills can take your leadership from “meh” to magnetic. 💡👇

1️⃣ Be present—When someone’s talking, give them your full attention. Ditch the phone, the email, the mental to-do list. Real listening starts with showing up fully. 📵👀

2️⃣ Ask better questions—Forget the surface-level stuff. Dig deeper with questions that challenge assumptions and open up honest dialogue. It’s about curiosity, not control. 🤔✨

3️⃣ Reflect back—Prove you’re not just nodding along. Rephrase what you’re hearing and connect it back to the bigger picture. People want to feel understood, not just heard. 🙌🗣️

4️⃣ Hold the space—Resist the urge to fill every silence. Sometimes the best thing you can do is wait. Give people room to process and share. Silence speaks volumes. 🤐💭

Listening isn’t just a “soft skill”—it’s your ministry superpower. 💥 When you truly listen, you create trust, clarity, and deeper connections.

👉 Check out the full article here and take your game to the next level.