The Data Behind Leadership Listening Skills and Performance Outcomes

When leaders think about the competencies that drive success, leadership listening skills rarely top the list. Listening is often dismissed as a soft skill—something pleasant to have but not essential to achieving results. Yet this perception couldn’t be further from the truth. Effective listening isn’t just a courteous behavior that makes others feel good; it’s a fundamental leadership capability that directly influences team engagement, organizational trust, and a leader’s overall effectiveness.

The question isn’t whether listening matters, but rather how much it matters. When we examine the data on leadership effectiveness, a striking pattern emerges: the leaders who excel at listening consistently outperform their peers across virtually every measure of success. They build stronger relationships, inspire greater commitment, and create cultures where people feel valued and empowered to contribute their best work.

So why do so many leaders struggle with this seemingly simple skill?

And what separates the exceptional listeners from the rest? The answers lie in understanding both the scope of listening’s impact and the specific behaviors that make the difference.

The Research: A Decade of Data Reveals Listening’s True Value

Over the past decade, we’ve gathered 360-degree assessment data on several hundred thousand leaders. A portion of that overall data set involved 4,219 leaders.  It focused specifically on how listening effectiveness varies across different leader populations and, most importantly, how it connects to measurable outcomes. Each leader in this data set was evaluated by an average of nine raters, including their manager, peers, direct reports, and others.

Research-backed answer to a common question: Does listening make leaders more effective?

Who Listens Best?

Our analysis revealed several surprising patterns in leadership listening skills across different demographic groups. Male leaders were rated slightly but significantly more positively than female leaders on listening effectiveness, with males scoring at the 53rd percentile compared to females at the 50th percentile.

Perhaps most striking was the relationship between hierarchical level and listening effectiveness. Individual contributors earned the highest ratings at the 59th percentile, while those at the very top of organizations struggled the most. Top managers received the lowest listening effectiveness ratings at just the 39th percentile. The progression was clear: as leaders climbed the organizational ladder, their perceived listening effectiveness declined. Senior managers scored at the 42nd percentile, middle managers at the 49th, and supervisors at the 56th.

Age also played a role in leadership listening skills. Leaders in their thirties demonstrated the strongest listening skills at the 58th percentile, while those under 30 scored at the 54th percentile. Middle-aged leaders in their forties maintained solid ratings at the 53rd percentile, but listening effectiveness dropped for older leaders, with those aged 51 to 60 scoring at the 47th percentile and those aged 61 to 70 at the 48th percentile.

The Performance Connection for Leadership Listening Skills

The most compelling findings emerged when we examined the relationship between listening effectiveness and leadership outcomes. Leaders rated in the top 10% on listening demonstrated dramatically superior results. Their employee engagement scores reached the 76th percentile, and their overall leadership effectiveness scores soared to the 92nd percentile. These aren’t marginal differences. They represent a fundamental gap in leadership capability and organizational impact.

Effective listeners distinguished themselves through specific, observable behaviors. They consistently received higher ratings on:

• Taking the time to understand the needs and concerns of others. They genuinely care about and value others’ views.
• Receiving suggestions and feedback without becoming defensive. They are not dismissive of what others suggest to them.
• Showing a willingness to change based on feedback from others. They are more motivated to act on the feedback they receive from others.
• Asking thoughtful, open-ended questions. Their questions reshape and elevate the conversation.
• Providing honest feedback in a way that others willingly accept.

Perhaps most telling, they were significantly more likely to be viewed as role models.

The Ripple Effect of Leadership Listening Skills on Teams

The impact of effective listening extended far beyond the leader’s personal effectiveness ratings. Direct reports of strong listeners reported feeling substantially more well-informed about issues that impact their jobs and more confident that they would be treated fairly. They felt genuinely involved in decisions that affected their work and were significantly more likely to go the extra mile in their efforts.

Our research revealed that effective listening serves as a foundation for numerous critical leadership capabilities. It significantly enhances a leader’s ability to build relationships, receive personal feedback from others, and generate trust throughout the organization. Strong listeners prove more effective at supporting the development of others, providing helpful feedback, and inspiring others to change. In essence, listening acts as a force multiplier that amplifies a leader’s impact across every dimension of their role.

Conclusion: Listening as a Strategic Imperative

The evidence is unequivocal. Effective listening is far more than a nice-to-have interpersonal skill. It represents a strategic leadership capability that directly drives organizational performance. Leaders who master the art of listening create more engaged teams, build stronger relationships, and achieve significantly higher effectiveness ratings than their peers.

Yet our research also reveals a troubling reality: the leaders who need this skill most—those at the highest levels of the organization—are often the ones who practice it least. As leaders advance in their careers, they face increasing demands on their time and attention. But this pressure makes it tempting to fall into the trap of talking more and listening less, a pattern that undermines both individual effectiveness and organizational health.

The good news is that listening is a skill that can be developed and strengthened with intention and practice. Leaders who commit to understanding the needs and concerns of others, who ask thoughtful questions, who receive feedback without defensiveness, and who demonstrate a willingness to change based on what they hear will reap substantial rewards. They’ll build more trusting relationships, inspire greater commitment from their teams, and position themselves as the kind of role models that others want to follow.

If we apply the metaphor of all human interactions involving pitching and catching, pitching is the flashier, most observable behavior. Our research concludes, however, that catching has the greater value in the long run.  It takes time. It often requires patience. It demands your willingness to give the utmost respect to those about you.

In a world where leaders face mounting complexity and constant change, developing strong leadership listening skillsmay be the most powerful tool available. Listening costs nothing but attention, yet yields returns that extend throughout the entire organization. The question for every leader is simple: Will you make listening a priority, or will you continue to treat it as merely nice to do? Your effectiveness, your team’s engagement, and your organization’s long-term success may well depend on the answer.

-Joe Folkman, President of Zenger Folkman