Listen Up Or Lose Out (how To Avoid Miscommunication, Improve Relationships, And Get More Done Faster)

By (author) Bolton Robert; By (author) Bolton Dorothy Grover
Short description/annotation
Are you having trouble communicating? Maybe you should try talking less--and listening more.
Description
Most people retain only a fraction of what they hear, resulting in miscommunications and lost opportunities. But learning how to actively listen and absorb what a person is saying, thinking, and feeling can set the stage for dramatically improved relationships and increased personal success.In Listen Up or Lose Out, communications expert Robert Bolton highlights the underestimated and not well utilized tool of active listening and explains how it can be used to gather perspectives, bridge differences, and resolve problems. By breaking down listening into a set of learnable skills such as avoiding the urge to criticize, question, or advise; focusing on the speaker’s point of view; asking the right questions, in the right order; and learning how to read people’s feelings and reflect them back, Bolton explains how one can become a skilled listener who experiences fewer conflicts, makes better decisions, and discovers opportunities that others might miss. Whether personally or in business, could you benefit from better communication? Give listening a try!
Table of contents

Introduction: What This Book Will Do for You xi

PART I: WHY IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING?

1. Quality Listening Enhances Work Relationships 3

2. Listening Well Is Good Business 15

3. A Good Listener Is a Rare Find 23

4. Quality Listening Strengthens Personal Relationships 31

PART II: DO''S AND DON''TS OF GREAT LISTENING

5. Trouble Spots in the Talking--Listening Process 43

6. Identifying Your Listening Missteps 53

7. Reducing Major Missteps 67

8. Skill-Based Listening 71

9. Whose Turn Is it? 77

10. Focus Your Attention 83

11. Be a Great Asker 95

12. Creating and Sequencing Productive Questions 101

PART III: REFLECTING CONTENT

13. Reflective Listening: Antidote to Miscommunication 115

14. Paraphrase What''s Important 129

15. Listen Through the Pauses 141

PART IV: READING AND REFLECTING OTHER PEOPLE''S FEELINGS

16. Why Listen to People''s Feelings? 151

17. "Read" People''s Feelings 161

18. Reflect Feelings and Meanings 171

PART V: THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

19. Wrap It Up with a Summary Reflection 185

20. Results-Focused Listening 193

21. The Listening Spirit 209

22. Make Great Listening Part of Your Everyday Life 219

Appendix 231

Endnotes 243

Index 261

Biographical note
ROBERT BOLTON, PH.D., is known for his expertise in training trainers. He is a cofounder of Ridge Associates, a training and consulting firm that serves many Fortune 500 companies, and the author of several books. DOROTHY GROVER BOLTON, ED.M., are known for their expertise in training trainers. They are cofounders of Ridge Associates, a training and consulting firm that serves many Fortune 500 companies, and the authors of several books including the perennially popular People Styles at Work . . . And Beyond.