The Best Advice I’ve Ever Heard on Listening, with Dr. Bill Lampton, “The Biz Communication Guy”
Bill Lampton: [00:00:00] The best advice I’ve heard on listening comes from Stephen Covey. I’m sure many of our listeners have read his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. And I love Chapter 5, which he begins with a statement, “Seek first to understand and then to be understood.” Now, John, most of us want to say, “Hey, wait a minute. Wait a minute. I want people to understand me first.” But that’s not how it’s most effective.
Bill Lampton: [00:00:29] And I’ll give you very quickly the five levels of listening that Covey identifies. Number one is ignoring. You know, you’re talking with someone and they got this glassy eyed stare and you know their thoughts are elsewhere. Secondly, pretending. Okay, somebody is talking to us and we’re giving them eye contact and we’re nodding our head. But, John, you’re thinking problem, “Wait a minute. What was it my wife said for me to pick up on the way home from the grocery? Was it milk and bread or what was it?” So, you’re pretending.
Bill Lampton: [00:01:05] The next level is selective listening. Think of the times that an employee is in a performance appraisal interview. And during the first part of the interview, the supervisor tells them all the great things they’ve accomplished that year. They’re listening intently. But then, the supervisor would say, “Now, Bill, we’ve also got some problems we need to work on. Some things you need to improve.” I get into selective listening. Not listening nearly as attentively. The fourth step up the ladder of listening is attentive listening. This means that we really are getting the words and the meaning.
Bill Lampton: [00:01:46] But the fifth level, the highest level which Covey recommends, and you and I and every business person knows how valuable this is, is empathic listening. Empathic listening means we not only know the words, but we get the feelings, and we listen, and we ask questions until we make sure that we understand the person’s content and their intent as well.
Dr. Bill Lampton, “The Biz Communication Guy,” Championship Communication
Bill Lampton, Ph.D., known as the “Biz Communication Guy,” taught Speech Communication at the University of Georgia, then spent two decades in management at the vice presidential level. In 1997, he became a professional speaker, communication consultant and coach, helping leaders and corporations with management, sales, customer service, crisis communication, video production and presentation skills. His top-tier client list includes the Ritz-Carlton Cancun, Missouri Bar, University of Georgia Athletic Association, Environmental Protection Agency and Gillette.
His company, Championship Communication, operates from Gainesville, Georgia.
Dr. Lampton is also co-host of “North Georgia Business Radio,” produced in the North Georgia studio of Business RadioX®.
Listen to Bill’s full North Fulton Business Radio interview here.
The “One Minute Interview” series is produced by John Ray and in the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link.
Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.
