The Powerful Impact of Listening

The Powerful Impact of Listening

From Truly Human Leadership by Barry-Wehmiller

February 4, 2026 · 23 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the critical importance of listening in leadership and human interactions.

Barry-Wehmiller Chairman Bob Chapman has said this about the importance of listening: Time and again, I've written that listening is the most important thing a leader can do. But it transcends the leader role. Listening is the most important thing we, as humans, can do for one another. It shows empathy, it shows you care, and most importantly, it shows the person you are listening to that they matter. We are not taught to listen in our society. So much value is placed on speaking, but not listening. How many listening classes do you see in schools or colleges? They have "speech" classes and debate teams. The skill of listening is special and we need to be taught how to do it well. Learning the skills to become an effective listener will not only make you a better leader, but a better human being as well Listening is something we talk about often at Barry Wehmiller, and you've probably heard a lot about it on this very podcast. It's the foundational class of Barry Wehmiller University, our internal school for our team members. We call this class Listen Like a Leader. It's also one of the most important offerings of our consulting company, Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute, as…

People in this episode

Host: Barry-Wehmiller

Topics covered

  • listening
  • leadership
  • empathy
  • communication
  • personal development

Keywords

  • listening
  • leadership
  • empathy
  • communication skills
  • personal growth

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Barry-Wehmiller, Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute, Chapman Foundation for Caring Communities, Our Community Listens

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