listening is a skill that must be consciously cultivated. Like Vitamin Z says, listening well displays humility and is essential for leadership.
luckily, Gavin Ortlund has posted 20 qualities of good listeners to provide some guidance to us as we seek to develop this skill.
here are some of them to give you the flavor:
2) Good listeners are not hasty in making judgments. They are willing to think about something for a while. They don’t have to categorize everyone and everything immediately. “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19).
3) Good listeners pay careful attention to words. They don’t assume that an idea they are hearing is identical to an idea they are already familiar with simply because it has similarities. They respect the complexity of reality and are willing to make fine distinctions and treat each person, each statement, each idea on its own terms.
4) Good listeners ask questions. Not to embarrass or attack, but to clarify and distill.
….
11) Good listeners do not unreasonably question the motives of the speaker. They make a good faith assumption that, all other factors being equal, the speaker is trying to communicate clearly and truthfully.12) Good listeners don’t equate listening with agreeing. Good listeners understand that careful listening equips you to disagree well, because by listening you understand more clearly what it is that you disagree with.
13) Good listeners are not simply waiting to talk again when someone else is speaking. They actually value the contributions of other people.
Go check them out.