Workforce Management’s John Hollon recently pointed to a new NFI research study on business meetings on Workforce.com. The study found that "57 percent of business leaders spend 21 percent to 60 percent of their time each week in internal meetings. Some 56 percent of the executives found half of their meetings to be productive." Unfortunately, by implication, that means that half their meetings were not productive, leading to a waste of 10 – 30% of these business leaders' work days.

Most inventories of desirable leadership characteristics will place "good listener" near the top. Good listening helps leaders to understand, empathize, and engage their team members and employees. Good listening builds rapport and trust; it invariably improves the relationship. Listening is not a warm-and-fuzzy competence: it’s an essential skill-set that yields significant results.

Listening as an Ally™ Case Study

Marc Andreessen’s “Quote of the Week” last week was ”Why Brainstorming is a Bad Idea." Andreessen quoted Frans Johansson's book, The Medici Effect:

How do you ensure your top performers stay motivated?

Human beings are born with the ability to develop their emotional intelligence. But many of us weren’t taught how to express our feelings effectively, how to be explicit about our needs, or to ask for help in meeting our needs.

The "Dimensions of Success", or "Results, Process and Relationship", is a foundational model for Interaction Associates' work. Too often, an organization values just one dimension of success and lets the others slide. We have found that focusing on one dimension alone is a surefire recipe for no success at all.

In this podcast, Barry Rosen explores the model and how it is used by organizations the world over.

Have you been in a meeting lately — with one or twenty people — when the whole conversation went off on a tangent of no return? This is not an uncommon experience, particularly when the topic is challenging and the players have different points of view.

What can you do — either as a leader or meeting participant — to get people back on track, heading in the same direction, with shared commitment to a positive outcome?