Still looking for that perfect New Year’s resolution? 
What about making a commitment to listen more and talk
less in 2010?

One of the shortcomings that I have observed in managers
is mediocre listening.  I have seen it in 1-on-1
gatherings and in large meetings.  If we are not being
distracted with documents or blackberry emails, we are
listening half-heartedly because we are mentally
constructing our response.

HR CONTRARIAN POINTER: Probably the single biggest impact
that a manager can have on his/her direct reports is to
make a sincere effort to listen better.

Listening involves making a concerted effort to focus on
the person who is speaking and on his/her words without
trying to construct a rebuttal and without all the
distractions like a ringing cell phone.

Listening is the ultimate sign of respect for the other
person. 

Try it with your employees and your family.

Who would have thunk it?  A Deloitte study showed that
employees ranked the behavior of management and the
behavior of direct supervisors as the #1 and #2 factors
respectively that contribute to ethical behavior in the
workplace.

In this study, 42% of the people identified management and
35% identified direct supervisors as the dominate
contributors to the ethical behavior that employees will
emulate.

HR CONTRARIAN POINTER: It’s just common sense – employee
behavior will model the authority figures in any
organization. 

“Do what I say, not what I do” doesn’t work with children,
and it certainly doesn’t work with adults.

Mahatma Gandhi is quoted as saying, “We must be the change
we wish to see in the world.”  Simply put, you need to
exhibit the behavior that you want others to follow.