Gerald Bell is a leading consultant and educator on the all important topic of leadership and listening. A huge portion of what we do in social media relies on good listening skills and any good social media strategy will have listening at its core. Bell has developed six laws of listening that everyone can benefit from in person, online, and really any facet of life.
The 6 Laws of listening are:
1. You can’t listen and work at the same time.
2. You can’t listen and think at the same time.
3. There is no such thing as multitasking.
4. Everyone knows exactly when you stopped listening.
5. You can’t fake listening. You can’t pretend to listen. You can’t fool people.
6. People only tell you the truth when they think you’re capable of hearing it.
If you can listen well, you will likely earn the respect and appreciation of your employees, friends, and network. This will lead to better communication and better leadership out of you, the informed boss or informed business. Stick to the laws of listening in person and in social media and they will serve you well.
And gentlemen, listening gets you laid.