A mature leader has a very finely tuned listening filter for “wishy washy words.” Words like “probably” or “try” seldom make it through that filter without the leader asking, “When you say the word ‘probably,’ what does that mean?” – causing the speaker to clarify actually what they meant.

In sales training, I oftentimes speak of having “happy ears” where we become prone to give greater meaning to those wishy washy words based on what we as the sellers want to hear. That’s equally true in all communications.

A leader has learned that the assumptions they make around wishy washy words never serve him/her well.

Might I suggest a game to make learning this skill more fun? The next time you have a conversation with one of your followers, see how many wishy washy words you can catch. My record is seven for one conversation. I’m betting you might beat that. Did you catch the wishy washy word in the previous sentence?

Categories: Listening

Tags: listening