Business leaders told to listen up

BETTER listening will make Irish business leaders more effective, an American communications expert said yesterday.

Hoop Morgan, founder of the US-based Forte Institute, said Irish human resource managers, supervisors and top executives could boost productivity and sales by finding out what made their best performers tick and convincing other staff to learn from them. But they needed to adapt their individual styles to get the best from the workforce, he said.

“The most effective leaders are the ones that can communicate and create relationships that develop trust,” said Mr Morgan.

He said businesses that developed cultures based on trust were able to get things done more quickly than others. He also said Ireland was blessed with a “phenomenal infrastructure of very bright, well-educated people” and that business processes developed in Ireland could act as a lesson for global companies to implement in other countries.