Are You Really Listening to Your Team?

Picture this scenario: A team of skilled employees raises valid concerns about an upcoming process change.

The manager listens, nods, and then moves forward as planned without addressing their feedback.

Later, productivity plummets, frustration builds, and turnover spikes.

The result? A preventable crisis that could have been avoided with one simple skill, active listening.

Many managers believe they are good listeners. They hold meetings, request feedback, and encourage open discussions.

However, their teams often feel unheard and disengaged.

Studies show that while 96 percent of managers think they listen well, only 13 percent of employees agree.

This disconnect erodes trust and leads to misalignment, disengagement, and costly business mistakes.

If you are a manager who wants to improve team morale, communication, and productivity, mastering active listening is non-negotiable.

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What Listening Gaps Are Costing Your Team

Why Active Listening Matters in Management

Poor listening is not just frustrating, it damages workplace dynamics in ways that managers often fail to recognize.

Consequences of Poor Listening in Leadership:

• Lower Employee Engagement. Employees feel ignored and stop contributing ideas.
• High Turnover Rates. Team members leave organizations where they do not feel valued.
• Costly Mistakes. Overlooking key employee insights leads to inefficiencies and rework.
• Fractured Trust. When employees believe their managers do not listen, they disengage.
  

Jorge Loebl, founder of Revolving Change, highlights the impact of this issue in leadership, stating:

“Managers think they are listening, but in reality, they are hearing words without registering the message. If you don’t actively listen, you risk making decisions based on incomplete information, and that’s dangerous for any leader.”

If you want to lead effectively and create a high-performing team, you must transform how you listen.

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Why Even Good Managers Struggle to Really Listen

Many managers assume that listening means being silent while their team speaks.

However, active listening requires deliberate engagement, validation, and a commitment to understanding.

Common Listening Pitfalls for Managers:

• Multitasking during meetings instead of focusing on employees
• Formulating responses while someone is still speaking
• Dismissing or downplaying employee concerns
• Failing to follow up on feedback, making employees feel unheard
  

Loebl explains how even well-intentioned managers fall into this trap:

“A lot of managers say they have an open-door policy, but their employees do not feel they can actually walk through that door. Why? Because they know that their concerns will be heard but not acted upon. That’s not real listening, that’s just hearing noise.”

So how do managers become true active listeners?

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Transform Team Listening With Our 3D Framework

At Revolving Change, we use our Discover, Design, Deliver (3‑D) process to help managers identify, develop, and sustain active listening skills in their leadership.

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Discover: Where You’re Missing the Message

The first step is recognizing where your listening habits fall short.

Ask yourself:

• Do I often interrupt my employees before they finish speaking?
• Do I give my full attention in conversations, or do I check my phone and emails?
• Do my employees feel comfortable sharing concerns with me?
• Do I frequently hear about problems after they have escalated because my team did not speak up sooner?
  

Loebl emphasizes how distractions undermine real listening:

“Your brain is always ahead of the conversation, already preparing a response while the person is still talking. That’s where we fail to actually listen. If your brain is busy thinking about what you will say next, you are not truly engaged.”

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Design: Better Conversations With a Listening Toolkit

Once you identify where you struggle with listening, you can start developing a structured approach to improve it.

Practical Active Listening Techniques for Managers:

1. Paraphrasing and Confirming Understanding:
   • Before responding, summarize what the employee said.
   • Example: “What I’m hearing is that you feel this new workflow will slow down productivity. Is that correct?”
   • This prevents misinterpretation and makes employees feel valued.
     
2. Eliminate Distractions:
   • Keep phones, emails, and notifications away during conversations.
   • Loebl suggests demonstrating attentiveness visibly:
     “Show employees you are engaged. Close your laptop. Put your phone away. These small actions tell your team, ‘I value what you are saying.’”
     
3. Create a Feedback Loop:
   • Don’t just listen, follow up.
   • Example: “You raised concerns about workload. I took that into account, and here are the steps we’re taking to address it.”
     
4. Use Silence to Command Attention:
   • Loebl explains how silence is one of the most powerful tools in a leader’s communication arsenal:
     “When you go silent in a meeting, people turn toward you. Why? Because silence forces people to listen. It makes them uncomfortable. Use that pause to regain attention and show employees that what you are about to say matters.”
     

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Deliver: Build Daily Habits That Help Teams Thrive

The final step is turning these techniques into long-term leadership habits.

• Set structured listening sessions.
  Hold regular check-ins where employees can voice concerns without interruptions.
• Encourage a Speak-Up Culture.
  Foster an environment where employees feel safe sharing ideas and feedback.
• Hold Yourself Accountable.
  Ask employees directly, “Do you feel heard?” and adjust accordingly.
  

Loebl emphasizes:

“Active listening is not about making your employees talk more, it’s about making them feel heard. If your team is not bringing issues to you, the problem is not that they have nothing to say, it’s that they don’t think you will listen.”

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The Listening Challenge: Build Trust in 7 Days

For the next seven days, try these three listening shifts in your leadership:

1. Pause before responding. Give a one-second silent gap after your employee finishes speaking before replying.
2. Summarize key takeaways. After a conversation, repeat back the main points and ask, “Did I capture that correctly?”
3. Eliminate distractions. Commit to one distraction-free team conversation per day.
   

Results You Can Expect:

• Increased team trust and morale
• More productive meetings with fewer misunderstandings
• Higher employee retention because team members feel valued
• Stronger decision-making because managers are fully informed
  

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Final Thoughts: Becoming a Leader Who Listens

Mastering active listening is not just about communication, it is about leadership effectiveness.

Managers who actively listen foster higher engagement, better decision-making, and more collaborative workplaces.

Loebl sums it up:

“The best leaders are not the ones who talk the most, they are the ones who listen best.”

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Make Listening Your Team’s Competitive Edge

When you master active listening, your team becomes more engaged, productive, and aligned. If you’re ready to lead more effectively and build trust that lasts, this is your next step.