People-oriented listening
Found in Scholarship and Professional Development > Leadership Development Resources By Kina S. Mallard, Academic Dean, Gordon College Much has been written about leadership skills and the training of department chairs. A quick perusal of The Department Chair shows topics related to marketing your department, performance appraisals, reward systems, conflict management, team-building, recruitment, and leading workshops - all important leadership issues. Books to help chairs develop as leaders focus primarily on theoretical issues. When communication is covered, it is within the realm of written communication, leading department meetings, motivational skills, and meeting deadlines. Missing from much of the literature is the communication skill of listening. This is not surprising considering that listening is the skill most overlooked in management books as well as college curricula. Listening is one of the most critical skills needed for effective leadership. Unfortunately, it is a time-consuming task. However, because faculty need their chairperson to take time to understand and appreciate them, chairs must invest in improving listening skills. This article posits that listening, while the forgotten stepchild of communication, is the most important skill a department chair can develop. Listening and Leadership Listening Preferences The acronym PACT outlines the four types of listening preferences presented in the Listening Styles Profile: People-, Action-, Content-, and Time-oriented. These predilections indicate individual's preferences; however, most people choose contextually. The PACT styles are shown in Tables 1- 4. The tables summarize positive and negative characteristics as well as strategies for communicating. People-oriented listeners. Chairs who are predominantly people-oriented listeners (Table 1) are perceived as nurturing and caring. They will spend hours chatting about personal issues, know the names of faculty members' spouses and children and tend to be liked. This affinity for people can prove frustrating, however, as people-oriented listeners have difficulty accomplishing tasks and struggle with tough decisions. Action-oriented listeners. Action-oriented listeners (Table 2) are very confident and believe they know the best way to get a task done. They are focused on solving problems and are generally extremely productive. Problems arise when faculty feel they are more concerned with projects than people. Content-oriented listeners. Collecting data and playing devil's advocate are two of the strengths of content-oriented listeners (Table 3). Faculty working with these chairs often become frustrated with their inability to bring closure to issues. Typical content-oriented listeners avoid taking risks, enjoy lengthy meetings, and are experts in seeing how each detail of a project fits into the whole picture. Time-oriented listeners. Like action-oriented listeners, time-oriented listeners (Table 4) are able to complete their work tasks efficiently. They are addicted to their daytimers and to-do lists. Faculty working for these chairs often feel rushed and misunderstood. Time-oriented chairs must strive to carve out "listening time" for their faculty and display open nonverbal listening behavior. Although each individual has a dominant listening preference, the successful chair will discern which is needed in each situation. Chairs can improve listening by attending to the following guidelines regardless of listening preference:
Understanding your listening preference(s) and practicing active listening will lead to a more successful tenure as chair. The chair who listens and helps others is the chair who is effective and respected. Challenge yourself to make time for your faculty and lend a listening ear. Table 1
Table 2
Table 3
Table 4
Source: The Department Chair, Winter 1999, Vol. 9, No. 3 Reprinted with permission of Anker Publishing, 176 Ballville Rd., P.O. Box 249, Bolton, MA 01740 www.ankerpub.com |