Why Listening Is a Core Business Skill, Not a Soft Skill

Dr. Niklas Richter · 2026-02-12

Let's talk about listening. Not the kind where you nod while waiting for your turn to speak. I mean real, deep, transformative listening. It's the kind Evy Gruyaert has built a career—and a company—around. Evy's been a media presence for 25 years. But these days, she's not just a presenter. She's the co-founder of All Ears, an organization that helps companies structurally embed listening into their very way of working. Here's the thing she discovered: listening was her most powerful professional tool long before she had the words for it or built a business model. It wasn't some fluffy, empathetic add-on. It was a strategic lever for better understanding, sharper work, and sustainable growth for both people and organizations. ### The Common Listening Traps We All Fall Into We often confuse listening with simply waiting for our turn to talk. You know the feeling. Someone's speaking, and your brain is already crafting your brilliant response. You're not really hearing them; you're just in a polite holding pattern. Then there's our tendency to fill in the blanks from our own 'backpack' of experiences and assumptions. We project our story onto theirs. We think we know what they mean before they've even finished. It's human nature, but it kills genuine connection. ### The Paradox of Slowing Down to Speed Up This might sound counterintuitive, but Evy argues that slowing down is necessary to move faster. When you truly listen, you get to the root of issues quicker. You avoid costly misunderstandings and rework. You build the trust that makes every subsequent interaction more efficient. It's like taking time to sharpen your axe before chopping wood. The initial pause saves you hours of blunt, ineffective effort. ### How Listening Actually Works Inside an Organization So, what does All Ears do? They don't just give a motivational speech. They help companies build systems and habits for listening. This means creating safe channels for feedback, training leaders to hear without defensiveness, and making listening a measurable part of the culture. The concrete results? Teams that are more aligned. Employees who feel heard and stay longer. Leaders who make decisions based on reality, not their insulated perception of it. Innovation that comes from the people closest to the problems. ### The Real Foundation: Safety and Trust Here's the kicker. None of this works without psychological safety and trust. You can have all the feedback tools in the world, but if people are afraid to speak up, they're useless. Leaders often say they're 'open to feedback,' but they underestimate what that really requires. It's not just about hearing the words. It's about receiving them without punishment, without ego, and with a genuine commitment to understand. As Evy might say, it's about creating an environment where people don't just have ears, but where they are *all ears*. > "Listening wasn't an empathetic extra. It was my way to understand better, work sharper, and grow in a way that lasts." Think about your last meeting. Were you really listening, or just waiting? The difference isn't soft. It's the hard edge of what separates good teams from great ones, and struggling companies from thriving ones. It's a skill worth building, from the ground up.