Listening is Leverage

Who is the person you least like to work with? Who is the person you least like to spend time with? Let me take a guess: it’s the person who talks your ear off. The person who loves the sound of their own voice, and loves the rush they get from sharing their own ideas. 

Who is the person you most like to work with? The person you love to spend time with? I’m guessing its the person who listens to your ideas. The one who asks you thoughtful questions and really hears what you’re trying to say. 

In a world where everyone is fighting for attention, being a good listener gives you a disproportionate amount of leverage. Good listeners are uncommon, and scarcity brings value. Beyond this, good listeners hold an incredible amount of information—not just from what is said, but also from what is left unsaid, and how things are said. 

A good listener earns leverage. When it’s time to speak, the listener is heard because their words are rare and valuable. When they speak, talkers often quiet down, because its the least they can do. When good listeners speak, they do so with more strategic information than a talker ever had. 

Talkers pull back and forth on the same joystick, fighting for attention and the upper hand. But with every word that’s heard, a listener’s lever gets longer and longer. When it’s time execute that leverage, it’s an easy pull.