”Synergy is better than my way or your way. It’s our way.”
Last month we worked together in our 2020 Strategy Plan and we spent a good amount of time talking about the importance of engaging your team. Your leaders in the Vision and Goal Setting.
This month I am going to share with you about the importance of developing listening skills at your organisation.
Innovate and problem solve with those who have a different point of view.
To put it simply, synergy means “two heads are better than one.” Synergize is the habit of creative cooperation. It is teamwork, open-mindedness, and the adventure of finding new solutions to old problems. But it doesn’t just happen on its own. It’s a process, and through that process, people bring all their personal experience and expertise to the table. Together, they can produce far better results that they could individually. Synergy lets us discover jointly things we are much less likely to discover by ourselves. It is the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. One plus one equals three, or six, or sixty–you name it.
“Synergy is not the same as compromise. In a compromise, one plus one equals one and a half at best.”
When people begin to interact together genuinely, and they’re open to each other’s influence, they begin to gain new insight. The capability of inventing new approaches is increased exponentially because of differences.
YOU KNOW YOU’RE IN SYNERGY WHEN YOU:
- Have a change of heart.
- Feel new energy and excitement.
- See things in a new way.
- Feel that the relationship has transformed.
- End up with an idea or a result that is better than what either of you started with (3rd Alternative).
Valuing differences is what really drives synergy. Do you truly value the mental, emotional, and psychological differences among people? Or do you wish everyone would just agree with you so you could all get along? Many people mistake uniformity for unity; sameness for oneness. One word–boring! Differences should be seen as strengths, not weaknesses. They add zest to life.
Communicate effectively at all levels of the organization.
Communication is the most important skill in life. You spend years learning how to read and write, and years learning how to speak. But what about listening? What training have you had that enables you to listen so you really, deeply understand another human being? Probably none, right?
“If I were to summarize in one sentence the single most important principle I have learned in the field of interpersonal relations, it would be this: Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”DR. STEPHEN R. COVEY
If you’re like most people, you probably seek first to be understood; you want to get your point across. And in doing so, you may ignore the other person completely, pretend that you’re listening, selectively hear only certain parts of the conversation or attentively focus on only the words being said, but miss the meaning entirely. So why does this happen? Because most people listen with the intent to reply, not to understand. You listen to yourself as you prepare in your mind what you are going to say, the questions you are going to ask, etc. You filter everything you hear through your life experiences, your frame of reference. You check what you hear against your autobiography and see how it measures up. And consequently, you decide prematurely what the other person means before he/she finishes communicating. Do any of the following sound familiar?
Well, if any of this sounds familiar, it is normal, because most probably you have never been told how to listen effectively, and that is the most common issues in organisations.It is the most common driver for conflict. And conflict if cause of most of the performance issues in an organisation…
Lack of listening skills is more important than we think.Conflict is more import than we think… At work and at home! Does it sound familiar? Does it happen with your partner? With your teenagers?
So this month, just make the extra effort to remember , at work and at home, that you have two ears and one mouth for a reason 😉
Let´s practice active listening!
All the best,
Nieves
Corporate & Executive Results Coach
