How to Listen Is a Manager's Judgment Itself
Scenes of listening to subordinates are in daily work, such as reports, consultations, and checking progress. By how you listen at that time, what a subordinate will speak about from next time, and what they will stop speaking about, is decided. In how to listen, the habits of the boss side appear well. A person who gives an answer immediately, a person who checks in detail, a person who begins talking about their own experience in the middle of the story. Knowing those habits becomes the premise for turning a subordinate's story into material for work judgments.
Here, from the qualities of the 12 signs, we organize as general discussion the habits that tend to appear when listening to a story. This is not discussion for becoming a good listener; it is an article for knowing the habits of your own way of listening.
The Fire Quality — Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
The fire quality is a type whose reaction to a story heard is fast. That speed tends to come out in the middle of a story.
Aries has a tendency, while listening to a subordinate's story, to begin thinking about a conclusion or measures at an early stage. If you give an answer before the story ends, the subordinate will come to omit the course of events. Even if the measures themselves are accurate, it takes a form of deciding before listening to the whole story. The key point is to separate time for listening from time for deciding. If, after listening to the end, you put judgment into words, the quality of the subordinate's reports rises.
Leo is a type that, when listening to a story, tends to bring up its own experience and past examples of success as a comparison. Conveying experience itself is useful, but if the center of the subordinate's story moves to the boss's experience, the subordinate becomes less likely to consult. A form of adding experience briefly, after listening through the subordinate's story, fits well.
Sagittarius listens to talk of a large direction, but has a tendency for concentration to be hard to continue when the story becomes one of detailed course of events. From the subordinate's side, there are times when they feel that the part of important conditions is not being listened to. It is important to decide that, among the details, just the parts related to deadlines and numbers will be listened to to the end.
The Earth Quality — Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn
The earth quality is a type that listens while checking facts. The carefulness of checking is a strength, but the form of how to listen affects how the subordinate speaks.
Taurus has a tendency to listen while checking numbers and course of events in order. With that way of listening, omissions in reports decrease. On the other hand, even in a consultation where the subordinate is hurrying a conclusion, if you listen in the same order, the story becomes long, and the number of consultations itself can decrease. A form of separating scenes where you listen from the conclusion from scenes where you listen from the course of events, depending on the kind of consultation, fits well.
Virgo is a type that listens while noticing gaps in conditions in a story and discrepancies in numbers. If points become detailed, the subordinate will come to fix materials too firmly before speaking, and early consultations decrease. At the stage of consultation, if you take a form of gathering detailed points together at the end, early consultations become easier to continue.
Capricorn has a tendency, when listening to a story, to think in light of the rules of the organization and the scope of responsibility. That judgment is necessary, but if you enter from talk of rules, the subordinate becomes less likely to speak their own thinking. An order of first listening to the subordinate's thinking, and afterwards talking about adjustment with the rules, fits well. If you are also aware that your expression when listening tends to become hard, how easy it is for the subordinate to speak changes.
The Air Quality — Gemini, Libra, Aquarius
The air quality is a type that listens while organizing information. It has the power to grasp the structure of a story, but other habits also appear in how to listen.
Gemini has a tendency, while listening to a story, to think of related information and other examples, and for questions to expand easily. If there are many questions, the subordinate's time to speak about the main topic decreases. A form of narrowing questions to those necessary for judgment, and putting related talk off until later, fits well. A habit of restating briefly what you have heard to check it is also effective.
Libra is a type that listens lining up a subordinate's story with the positions of other related people. A viewpoint of balance is useful for coordination, but from the subordinate right in front of you, there are times when they feel that their own story is not being received as it is. An order of first receiving the subordinate's story from the subordinate's position, and afterwards thinking about overall coordination, is important.
Aquarius has a tendency, when listening to a story, to grasp it as a problem of systems rather than individual circumstances. A viewpoint of systems leads to improvement, but if what the subordinate is seeking is consultation on how to proceed for the time being, the story can become large. A form of answering divided into the response for the time being and improvement of the system fits well.
The Water Quality — Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces
The water quality is a type that listens reading not only the content of a story, but the state of the side speaking as well. That reading becomes both a strength and a burden.
Cancer has a tendency to listen including even the state of the subordinate and the background of human relationships in the team. A response that takes circumstances in leads to trust, but if you think about circumstances too much, judgment about the conditions of work can slip to the back. The key point of line drawing is, after listening to circumstances, to decide the part of conditions as conditions.
Scorpio is a type that listens quietly and tries to judge the part of the subordinate's real feelings. From the speaker's side, it can be hard to know how far things are being conveyed, and silence can feel heavy. Just returning one word of what you have received in the middle of listening changes how easy it is for the subordinate to speak. It listens deeply to the story of a subordinate it trusts, but if that difference comes to the surface, care is also needed on the point that other subordinates become less likely to consult.
Pisces is a type that listens drawing close to the subordinate's feelings, so the speaker can speak with relief. On the other hand, after listening, what should be decided as work can end while remaining vague. A form of, at the end of a consultation, confirming in words what has been decided and what the subordinate will do next, fits well.
Turning Habits in Listening into the Quality of Judgment
Whichever quality, what is common to a good way of listening is dividing the stage of listening from the stage of deciding. At the stage of listening, receive the story to the end; at the stage of deciding, judge by conditions and deadlines. If that switch can be made, a subordinate's story becomes work judgment material as it is. For example, when you receive a report of a delay in progress, if you listen to the reason to the end, and then decide together just the arrangements for recovering the delay, reports from next time will become earlier.
How to listen is not a problem of personality, but a problem of how to proceed. If you know the parts close to your own habits, you can make a relationship in which subordinates consult at an early stage. That leads to speed of judgment as a manager.