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I'm your host, Elise Hugh. What does it take to be a truly great listener? In today's talk,

communication experts Megan Stevens and Nicole

Lowenbronn argue that communication hurdles aren't from a lack of attention, but rather an issue

of how we're listening. They introduce the concept of adaptive listening or the idea that

being a good listener means adjusting to what others need in the moment. They also share four ways to

become a great listener.

Have you ever wanted to say to your boss, stop talking, you're not listening to me?

I've actually said that to her face. Yep, I am her boss, and I'm a boss. Stop talking. You're not listening to me. I've actually said that to her face.

Yep, I am her boss.

And obviously, I didn't fire her.

We were locked away in a rental house on a writing retreat, all out of snacks, behind on the

deadline for our very first book, about listening, so, you know, super low stress situation. I wanted us to make up

time and try to hit the deadline. And I wanted us to fix the section we had just written because

it was not good enough. But every time I brought it up, Megan rushed past it until finally I

snapped. Stop talking. You're not listening to me. Yeah, okay. Listen, I, obviously. I was not scrolling on my phone, and I wasn't multitasking.

But there is something else I wasn't doing, and it took us three years of researching the way great leaders, managers, individual contributors, listen to figure it out.

We asked the question, what makes someone a great listener at work?

Across dozens of interviews, we heard things like,

my manager is a great listener because she gets just as excited about my big wins as I do.

My workwife is a great listener because she tells me when it's time to stop whining and to get back to work.

Now, we took all these answers.

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