• Don’t Finish Their Sentence: The Hidden Cost of Interrupting

    by Michelle Cummings

    Listening is one of the most important skills in leadership – but it’s also one of the easiest to fake. You can nod, smile, and even repeat back a few words, all while planning your next comment. But true listening asks something deeper: patience. And nothing reveals a listening gap faster than interruption.

    Most interruptions don’t come from a place of disrespect. They come from habit, urgency, or the belief that we already know what’s coming next. But when we interrupt or shift the conversation before the speaker finishes, we cut short more than their words. We cut short their thinking, their trust, and their willingness to fully engage.

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  • Be Present, Be Clear: The Power of Active Listening in Communication

    by Michelle Cummings

    Communication is more than talking. It’s a two-way process that requires both clarity from the sender and presence from the receiver. But too often, we focus on crafting the perfect message and forget that communication only succeeds if someone truly hears it. That’s where active listening makes all the difference.

    The classic sender-receiver model reminds us that every message travels through a channel – and every channel has noise. In modern workplaces, that noise is everywhere: notifications, emails, multitasking, and mental distractions. As a result, messages often get distorted or lost before they land. Active listening is the skill that cuts through that noise.

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