Why Listening Is a Hard Business Skill, Not a Soft One

Dr. Niklas Richter · 2026-02-12

Let's talk about listening. Not the polite nodding we all do while waiting for our turn to speak. I mean real, deep, active listening. It's the kind Evy Gruyaert has built her entire business around. You might know Evy from her 25 years in Belgian media. But these days, she's not on screen as a presenter. She's the co-founder of All Ears, an organization that helps companies make listening a structural part of how they work. Not as some fluffy extra, but as a core business strategy. ### The Professional Tool You Already Have Evy shared something that stuck with me. She said listening was her most important professional tool for years before she even had words for it. Before she built a business around it. Think about that for a second. We often treat listening like it's just about being nice. An empathy add-on. But what if it's actually the sharpest tool in your kit for understanding problems, making better decisions, and creating sustainable growth? For both people and organizations. That's the shift we need to make. ### Where We Get Listening Wrong So why do most of us struggle with this? Evy pointed out a few common traps we all fall into: - We confuse listening with waiting for our turn to talk. Our brains are already formulating our response while the other person is still speaking. - We fill in the blanks from our own "backpack" of experiences and assumptions. We think we know what someone means before they've finished explaining it. - We're afraid to slow down. We think speed equals productivity, when sometimes slowing down is exactly what lets you move faster in the long run. It's like trying to read a map while driving at full speed. You might miss the turn that would have saved you an hour. ### What Real Listening Looks Like in Organizations This is where All Ears comes in. They don't just teach listening skills. They help companies build listening into their actual workflows and culture. And the results are concrete. When teams actually hear each other, they solve problems faster. When leaders truly listen to feedback, they make better decisions. When employees feel heard, they're more engaged and innovative. But here's the crucial part Evy emphasized: none of this works without safety and trust. They're the real foundation of a strong company culture. You can't have honest conversations if people are afraid to speak up. ### What Leaders Often Miss There's one line leaders love to use: "I'm open to feedback." Evy says we often underestimate what that really requires. Being open isn't passive. It's actively creating the space, the safety, and the processes for feedback to flow both ways. It means not just hearing the words, but understanding the context behind them. It means asking follow-up questions instead of jumping to solutions. It means being vulnerable enough to admit you might have missed something. As Evy put it during our conversation, "Listening isn't about being quiet while someone else talks. It's about being fully present with what they're saying, and what they're not saying." That's the difference between a soft skill and a hard business capability. One is nice to have. The other transforms how you work, lead, and grow. So here's my question for you: When was the last time you truly listened without planning your response? Without filtering through your own experiences? Without rushing to the next thing on your list? Maybe it's time we all gave it a try. Not because it's the nice thing to do, but because it might just be the smartest business move we can make.