are you really listening?

a leadership fable seth godin uses in tribes is ronald reagan's secret to leadership. check this out.

your tribe wants a leader who listens. and by listen i mean actively listen. reagan says, "you should value what you hear and then make a decision even if it contradicts the very people you are listening to. people want to be sure you heard what they said - they're less focused on whether or not you do what they said."

for the most part i really try to give people my full attention when listening; however, so many times i am not actively listening. i make excuses like, "i am busy and there are 1,000 things going on in my head" and i just let something that someone said to me go in one ear and out the other. i am striving to become an active listener.