Have you ever talked to someone new at an event or meeting and before the conversation ends, you already forget their name? If the answer is yes, you are not alone. It's not because we have poor memory as humans, but because we don't have good listening skills. In today's world, people travel all over the world and access online communication. This makes listening increasingly difficult. In the workplace, employees come from many different countries, ethnicities and races. Although most of them speak English fluently, some may have different dialects and speaking styles. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In many business schools, we have learned the importance of leadership and any other soft skills. However, in most cases, people overlook listening skills as part of leadership skills. Instead, they place more emphasis on public speaking and managerial communication skills. Even though we can argue that communication is not just a one-sided conversation, most of the time business schools have emphasized the importance of message delivery and public speaking. Therefore, many business school graduate students have missed the opportunity to learn the importance of listening. In the beginning, we mostly focus on our thoughts and priorities, so we mostly just pretend to listen. Sometimes we nod even if we don't really know what the speaker is talking about at the moment. This level of listening is called internal listening. Most of us are at this level. If you ever want to be a good leader, being at this level is not enough. The leader should be able to welcome the ideas and insights of others. Because listening means accepting what others offer. When we are able to focus more on the other person, even if we are not yet fully focused on them, we may already be in the level of focused listening. At this level, we may appear to be good listeners from the outside, but we may not be able to grasp the nuances of the conversation, the message conveyed by the speaker, and the emotion conveyed throughout the entire conversation. The next level is called the 360° listening level where we are able to focus completely on what others are saying and, even better, what they are not telling us or sharing with us. In this level you can easily grasp your surroundings. He or she can absorb any ideas and insights like a sponge. However, the next question will be: how can we improve our listening skills? Are there really practical things we can do to improve it? Most people say that by looking people in the eyes we can maintain our concentration and we can listen to others much better. However, in some geographic areas such as Korea and Japan, especially in Asia, looking people directly in the eyes can be considered an insult. Therefore, we may need to balance this habit depending on where we are at the time or who we are trying to converse with. We may have a busy schedule, especially if you are at the management level where you have to organize and manage many divisions or areas. However, creating space in your day, even for just an hour or two, rather than committing to the entire day, could improve your level of concentration. When we have time for ourselves, try to reflect on what you did during the day. This way, you may perceive different nuances when speaking with others.Most people say that by asking questions we can actively listen to others. However, this may not be the case. Because if we ask questions just for the sake of asking questions, in the hope that we can listen and finally understand what others have said, you may miss the point entirely. There are some key accepted assumptions about being a good listener. First, we assumed that a good listener is someone who doesn't speak when others speak. This assumption is mostly incorrect because we have never known what people think when they don't speak. We may think they are listening to us, but it could be the opposite. They might think about what they want to eat for dinner. Second, we simply assume that letting others know you are listened to through verbal and facial expressions is enough to be called a good listener. We have often heard people suggest that we nod and say some verbal agreement expressions to be a good listener. However, this may not be the case. If we consciously nod when trying to listen, we may not pick up on the nuances and emotions conveyed during the conversation. There is a lot to understand about how to be a good listener, but the key point is whether one's personality can influence how he or she listens to others. Introversion and extroversion are both typical personalities that have been studied by many scientists around the world. We also have these 16 unique personalities that could address and explain your entire personality as a human being. By understanding ourselves, we could learn to improve ourselves in the future. Personally, I knew I was an introvert fairly recently, just a couple of years ago. Before that, I didn't even know that such personalities existed. So, in the early days of my life, I struggled with the weakness of socializing and talking to others. In elementary school, my teacher was afraid that I might fall behind because I never answered her questions. This situation also worried my parents so much that they took me to a special school. Living this way, I quickly realized that there was something different about me that I couldn't understand at the time. I always have difficulty conversing with new friends and colleagues. I was also terrified of public speaking until I reached high school where I was literally forced to give a presentation in front of the class. This adversity made me lose confidence. I've always thought I have a flaw that I can't change. However, despite all the difficulties, I accomplished something more important. I realized that I had the gift of listening. Whenever someone speaks to me, I can always capture the nuance, emotion, and message the speaker wanted to convey. With that, I was finally able to make friends and create long-term relationships. I was so popular as a good listener that my friends often came to me to talk about their problems. At one point, I almost decided to major in psychology at university, but then I changed my mind. Only later, after I graduated, did I come across the terms introversion and extroversion. Introverted doesn't just mean being shy and quiet. They process information differently. If they have been exposed to prolonged and tiring social events, they need to take a break and be alone for a while. Just like a smartphone that needs to be charged, an introvert also needs time alone. On the other hand, extroverts process information completely differently. They love to be the center of attention. They are energized whenever they are in public or at any social event. They don't need to charge,,.