The purpose of this essay is to discuss effective listening. Listening refers to the act of receiving information through the years. Involves recognizing speech sounds and processing the information. Effective listening refers to the ability to understand information offered by the speaker aggressively; it also involves displaying an interest in the conversation topic. Additionally, effective listening incorporates the act of posing pertinent questions to notify the speaker that I understood his message. Listening skills permits an individual to understand the message that one person passes to the other person. Effective listening is a useful tool since it facilitates the improvement of the productive levels of the Soldiers.
Listening is a process of three stages, the first stage of listening to it the receiving of the message. After receiving the message, the individual’s listening tends to understand the meaning of that message, then evaluate it. The next step involves remembering and responding to the information or the message that he/she has received. The three major types of effective listening include; informational listening, critical listening, and Sympathetic or Therapeutic listening (Lakshmi, 2017). Informational listening denotes the process of listening to the speaker’s message and information. Informative listeners tend to listen to the main words in the message, focus on recalling the vital concepts present in the message, and instill the essential concepts in their memories for future reference. On the other hand, critical listening involves critical thinking, analysis, and judgment of messages. However, critical listening can be ineffective since it consists of posing judgments while listening, hence creating a barrier to understanding the message that another person is passing to you. Empathetic listening as a component of effective listening consists of showing attention to the other person with empathy (compassion, feeling, emotional identification, and insight). Its primary principle is to ensure that you understand the situation of the other individual before he/she understands your situation (Lakshmi, 2017).
Effective listening is a vital tool for leadership activities and it plays a crucial role in enhancing excellent leadership skills among the leaders and Soldiers in the Army. The act of effective listening improves the level of commitment, trust, and cohesion bonds between the Soldiers and the leaders. Moreover, effective listening plays a crucial role in minimizing the occurrence of interpersonal conflicts and raises the probability of developing concrete and successful solutions whenever problems occur. The leader who has excellent, effective listening skills tends to establish the various issues affecting their working ability (Lakshmi, 2017). Having a good understanding of the issues affecting the Soldiers in any unit enables the leaders to develop the necessary measures meant at motivating them. Also, Leaders can establish sufficient strategies to solve the various issues affecting their working ability (Watson, 2017).
Individuals encounter various barriers to effective listening, which hinders good the understanding level between the listener and the person sending the message. One of the barriers to effective listening occurs whenever an individual is listening to numerous people at once. Electronic gadgets such as cell phones, computers have a significant adverse effect on effective communication. Whenever an individual is using a cell phone or a computer while listening to somebody giving information, they tend to encounter understanding difficulties (Sadulloyevna, 2018). The issue of interest can sometimes be a barrier to effective listening; whenever an individual does not have an interest in the topic discussed encounter problems understanding the message that the other person is providing. Luckily, there exist various strategies necessary to surpass barriers to effective listening. Some superior strategy appropriate at overcoming barriers to effective communication involves the following; avoid the slags, being aware of cultural distinctions, being open-minded for answers and questions, and being aware of the cultural differences.
In conclusion, the process of effective listening involves various stages. The multiple strategies of effective listening include receiving the message, understanding, evaluating the message, remembering, and responding to the information given by the sender. Moreover, there exist various forms of effective listening, such as informational listening, critical listening, and Empathetic. Effective listening plays a significant role in enhancing good leadership and problem-solving techniques. Additionally, effective listening increases the understanding level of the individuals. However, there exist various barriers to effective listening; for instance, hearing from multiple sources hurts effective listening.
