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Below is an excerpt from the article posted at Investor's Business Daily online.

Savvy executives use keen listening skills to gather crucial information. To pick up on the nuances:

• Lead by example. Conductor and "Maestro" author Roger Nierenberg invites business leaders inside his symphony orchestra to learn about the power of listening.

In an exercise that demonstrates the detrimental power of distraction, he conducts while mulling his next travel arrangements. "I fill my mind with that kind of thing, and the orchestra knows it immediately," Nierenberg told IBD.

His musicians will usually ask where Nierenberg's head is.

In the workplace, a common response among employees is to tune out because if the leader's "not here (mentally), then I don't have to be here either," Nierenberg said.

• Compare two versions. It's one thing to hear the music. "But the conductor also listens for what could be happening," Nierenberg said.

Detect the gap between the real and the ideal, and you can make the changes necessary to move toward the latter.

"Listening in two ways gives you tremendous power," Nierenberg said.

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