Listening is a fundamental management and leadership skill. Listening also provides the opportunity for dialogue and conversation, in which people understand each other better by taking turns having their point of view understood. For a leader to support and encourage a subordinate, active listening is required. Also, effective leader–member exchanges require that each party listen to one another.

Leaders cannot identify problems unless they listen carefully to group members. Before making changes, such as deciding on new policies or developing strategy, effective leaders often spend time listening to stakeholders such as employees, customers, and suppliers. An effective approach to developing good listening habits is to remember to ask questions—and then listen to the answers.

Three major impediments face the leader who wants to be an effective listener. First, the leader is so often overloaded with responsibilities that it is difficult to take the time to carefully listen to subordinates. Second is the speed difference between speaking and listening. Third, multi-tasking is a major deterrent to listening carefully to subordinates because the leader who is involved in another task at the moment, such as glancing at a tablet computer, is not paying full attention to the speaker. Three leadership aspects of listening include showing respect, selective listening to problems, and making the rounds.