The first part of soulful leadership is being open, so how do you go about helping your employees to open up? At Technalink, we use open communication to really learn how to connect with one another in the workplace through soulful leadership, while out and about, and while at home, making it a pretty important part of aligning two vibrations together. While it’s true that some people may be shy, introverted, or simply quiet by nature, there are ways to get just about anyone to comfortably open up, especially for a compassionate leader.
Listening with trust instead of judgement can be a really great way to encourage openness. For those who aren’t always the first to make a suggestion, the few times they speak out mean a great deal, and that communication being immediately shut down can cause them to prefer to keep quiet. Perhaps their idea won’t necessarily work in the current situation, or another suggestion was a bit better, but instead of shutting it down, respond with simple gratitude and make all the difference.
Openness doesn’t need an opportunity like a brainstorming session to get kicked into gear, and simple active listening during casual conversation can really make a big impact on helping others to open up. This is something you can do at the workplace, at home, or even at the grocery store, and help others to feel more comfortable connecting with you in a meaningful way. To actively listen, paraphrase what the other person is saying to ensure you’ve understood, maintain eye contact, and make sure your body language represents your interest.
If you’re trying to actively listen, but the other party isn’t saying much, you can always prompt them by asking for details throughout the conversation, using your active listening skills as encouragement. Asking for details can help to coax someone into opening up a little more, as it provides them with a specific topic to talk about. Using this topic, and your active listening, you can very positively encourage the other party to open up and share their ideas and opinions.
Getting others to open up comfortably and in a noninvasive fashion doesn’t need to be difficult, and all it really requires is encouragement, listening, and a gentle prompt to follow. With openness in the workplace, or anyplace, open communication can come naturally and help to bring whole groups together with positive energy.
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