Leading Troops Requires Knowing How to 'Speak' and How to 'Listen'—So How Does One Train the Skill of 'Listening'?
Leading Troops: Knowing How to 'Speak' and How to 'Listen'
■ Liaoning Provincial Military District Cadre Su Erxuan
On April 9, the Military Daily published a pair of reports: "Let the Soldier Finish Speaking" and "Listen to the Soldier's Explanation." Though the titles differ, a close reading reveals that both reports point to the same problem—grassroots troop leaders must learn to listen.
Knowing how to "speak" and knowing how to "listen" are complementary core competencies in leading and developing troops, and together they form a closed loop of effective communication with soldiers. By comparison, knowing how to "listen" might seem easier—after all, it only requires "pricking up one's ears." Yet, as the experiences of the protagonists in both reports show, whether from a lack of patience or from preconceived notions, difficulties arose in each case precisely because the leader did not know how to "listen."
I worked in grassroots units for many years, and I have a personal conviction: every person who leads troops well is skilled at listening. The troop leaders whom soldiers respect and who forge a company into a single cohesive force are not necessarily the ones with the loudest voices or the most experience, but they share one thing in common—their ears "work well." They can seize on what matters from a soldier's fragmentary words, find the crux of a problem in a single complaint, and read a hidden grievance in a moment of silence. Many of the knots in a soldier's heart are not untied by orders—they are dissolved by a troop leader's patient listening. Once you have truly heard someone out, the direction for solving the problem becomes clear; once you have genuinely taken it in, the hearts of leader and soldier draw closer; once the channel of communication is open, a soldier's grievances can more readily be relieved.
Looking at those who struggle to lead troops, the problem usually does not lie in "willingness to listen"—the vast majority of grassroots troop leaders genuinely want to enter the soldier's inner world and earn trust. The problem lies in "knowing how to listen," in the tendency to "take things for granted"—cutting a soldier off the moment he opens his mouth, setting the tone before the facts are clear. This may look crisp and decisive, but in reality it can cause problems to fester and push soldiers further away.
Listening is not merely a matter of attitude; it is also a capability that must be cultivated, a skill that must be tempered. A troop leader who does not know how to listen is like a radio with a broken antenna—the voices in soldiers' hearts go unheard, political education fails to reach soldiers' hearts, and even the strongest abilities become an empty framework.
How does one train the skill of "listening"? Years of grassroots experience have gradually taught me a few things—
Learn to slow down. Some soldiers speak slowly and think unclearly, which tests a troop leader's patience. Do not rush them, do not cut them off, do not finish their sentences for them—wait until they have said everything they need to say. Slowing down is not a waste of time; it is showing respect to the soldier and allowing yourself to understand the true situation.
First, set aside preconceptions. A troop leader's wealth of experience and familiarity with situations is a source of confidence, but it also easily produces "path dependency" (路径依赖). If you are already carrying a standard answer in your mind, the soldier will be "boxed in" after just a few words. Put the ready-made answer away first, and only then can you prescribe the right remedy and remain impartial.
Listen for what lies beneath the words. What can be heard is sound; what can be understood is the soldier's heart. A soldier's true thoughts are often not stated directly—the pauses in his tone, the grievance in his silence, a breezy "it's nothing" are all information.
Clarifying thinking, breaking through difficulties, resolving contradictions, rallying hearts—only if you are willing to listen to soldiers will soldiers be willing to listen to you. When communication flows freely and officers and soldiers are of one mind, combat effectiveness naturally becomes more solid.
The Military Daily's two reports brought the question of learning to listen to the table precisely to remind grassroots troop leaders: do not treat listening as a trivial matter. It is not a soft indicator—it is a hard skill; not an optional item—it is a required question, a genuine capability verified by countless outstanding troop leaders that can directly generate combat effectiveness.
(Compiled by Jiang Yukun)
—Illustration by Xiao Qian—
Voices from All Sides (七嘴八舌)
In the article "Let the Soldier Finish Speaking," there is a thought-provoking detail: Instructor Zhu, while conducting a late-night guard check, has a conversation with soldier Shi Feijie, and the atmosphere is relaxed. Why does the stillness of the late night allow communication to break through? Because a quiet environment makes it easier for Instructor Zhu to set aside the urge to judge quickly and begin paying attention to the true emotions behind the other person's words. The grievances and needs that the soldier never stated plainly are often hidden in the rises and falls of his tone, in silences and pauses, and in evasions and deflections.
Complete listening sometimes also requires restating and confirming after the other person has finished. If, after the soldier has spoken, the troop leader can quickly sort out the facts and feelings and gently check with "did I understand you correctly," this both accurately responds to the other person's emotions and actively invites the soldier to add anything left unsaid.
Only when troop leaders are willing to listen will soldiers dare to speak the truth, tell it as it is, and offer opinions; only when troop leaders are skilled at listening can they accurately grasp soldiers' ideological dynamics, resolve practical difficulties, and defuse latent contradictions and tensions. When "letting the soldier finish speaking" becomes a habit of leadership, and when "listening to the soldier's explanation" becomes a conscious act, officers and soldiers will trust each other more and more, forming a combined force in which minds point in the same direction and efforts are channeled toward the same goal.
—People's Armed Police Qinghai General Corps Cadre Guo Ziyang
I served as a primary officer in a grassroots company and also worked in a headquarters organ. The experience is similar to that of Instructor Zhu in "Let the Soldier Finish Speaking," and I feel it deeply. Headquarters work prizes efficiency and demands getting straight to the point, but leading troops at the grassroots level means facing individual, living soldiers—what is needed is patience, understanding, and empathy.
In the report, Shi Feijie speaks slowly and An Yuhang has a quick temper; the two clash because of the difference in their personalities. Instructor Zhu himself also happens to have a quick temper. When a troop leader applies his own standards of expression to soldiers, it is easy to overlook the differences in soldiers' habits of expression and ways of thinking.
When "get to the point" becomes a habit, "take your time" becomes scarce. Whether one can "let the soldier finish speaking" is a test of the troop leader's conception of the masses (群众观念), his conduct and bearing, and his wisdom in leading troops. Only by bending down and holding one's patience—letting soldiers be willing to speak, dare to speak, and finish speaking—can one truly enter the soldier's heart, rally morale, and consolidate the foundation of grassroots development.
—Jilin Province Liaoyuan Military Sub-district Cadre Yu Yong
The Military Daily's April 15 article "Be Cautious in Telling Troops 'We'll Get Back to It'" likewise reports on a troop-leading problem triggered by a habitual phrase. In the soldier's eyes, the "minor matter" he raised—"the washroom drain is clogged"—is his most concrete and most pressing current frustration; if it goes unresolved, there is a knot in his heart. A troop leader's breezy "we'll get back to it" is no different from pulling that knot tighter.
Thinking deeper: when a soldier is willing to open his mouth and raise a problem, it is often a "test" of the troop leader. The first time he speaks, he watches how you respond. If you take it seriously and resolve it, he will be willing to speak a second time, a third time, and may even bring out what he has kept buried in his heart. Conversely, if you brush it off once, he will very likely never open his mouth again.
Treating the soldier's affairs "as one's own affairs" does not mean hanging "grassroots first, soldiers first" on one's lips or posting it on the wall—it means translating it into the action of handling things immediately and handling them well. Even if you are genuinely busy at the moment or cannot resolve it right away, could you not put it differently: "I've noted this problem—I'll go coordinate as soon as training ends this afternoon," or "This matter will probably take a few days to resolve; I'll give you an answer this week"? A clear attitude and a foreseeable deadline are warmer and more effective than a single "we'll get back to it."
—Army Unit Cadre Wang Hongliang
Today, many grassroots companies carry heavy training loads and frequent assessments and evaluations. Troop-leading cadres and non-commissioned officers, positioned at the bottom of the management chain, bear pressure transmitted layer by layer, and at times it is hard to avoid becoming restless and communicating in a simple, rough manner. Yet the more complex the affairs, the more one must temper a rigorous and solid work style (严实作风). A good troop-leading work style is reflected in every word and phrase of communication, is embedded in the implementation of every task and matter, and is won through genuine and sincere treatment of one another.
As grassroots troop leaders, living alongside soldiers day and night, every word and action bears on the bond between officers and soldiers and on the effectiveness of leadership. Leading troops at the grassroots level is not the simple execution of "I speak, you listen; I order, you act"—it is a process of teaching by example, of guiding with heart and helping with sincerity (走心帮带). Changing a habitual phrase changes the way one communicates, corrects the work style of troop leadership, and warms the hearts of soldiers.
—Army Unit Staff Sergeant Second Class (二级上士) Jia Haotian