Leaders can learn the art of active listening by checking how often they do the talking and take time to WAIT -- or ask themselves, "Why am I talking?" -- and then HALT to check in on how their team is feeling -- if they are hungry, angry, lonely or tired -- which can hamper effective communication, write US Army officers Chaveso Cook and Joshua Bowen. Think about the needs you and your team members are trying to satisfy and what value everyone can bring to the conversation to meet those needs, they advise.

Put it into practice: Pay close attention to what's being said and who isn't talking when you're with your team, write Cook and Bowen and gauge whether the conversation should happen later and if you're dominating the interaction. "A core competency to leadership is communication, regardless of what industry you're in."

Half of 2024 is in the rearview mirror, but that doesn't mean you can put your go-to-market models in cruise control or bird-dog the road in front of you at the expense of the road ahead, executive coach Dave Coffaro writes. Reassess with an eye toward what's different, advises Coffaro, because the "faster the pace of evolution in operating conditions, the sooner business models can become obsolete."

Put it into practice: To realign with current and future market conditions, ask yourself: "How are my clients/customers changing?" "How are my team members evolving?" "How are my competitors adapting?" Some business models may last longer than others, depending on the industry, but change is a constant factor.

Generation Z employees and their older managers have a veritable phone book full of ways to communicate, but connecting isn't easy. Tom Corfman of RCG suggests a happy medium for managers: Use text messages and social media much more often, but don't abandon phone calls and in-person conversations when necessary.

Put it into practice: Because younger employers are optimistic and willing to share feedback, make sure you don't shut them, or their ideas, down, because they can quickly lose enthusiasm. If that happens, "they're likely to be more disillusioned than workers who don't share their outlook," Corfman writes.

Olympic gold medalist downhill skier Lindsey Vonn says she lives off of adrenaline and needs a challenge to drive her and notes that it's that mental perseverance that both athletes and leaders need to make success look effortless under pressure. "If you use pressure to your advantage, it can be a huge driving force," Vonn says.

After a bidding war, a rare 1818 first edition of Mary Shelley's classic "Frankenstein" novel sold for $843,750 at an auction in Dallas that also saw a 1925 copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" fetch $425,000. The books were part of a collection owned by William Strutz, a rare book collector who amassed a library of 15,000 tomes.

Rob Gramlich, the founder and president of Grid Strategies, discusses the challenges faced by the US grid in accommodating increasing demand for renewable energy sources, including power demand growth, limited grid capacity, and constraints in the interconnection process. Gramlich highlights the importance of building transmission infrastructure and leveraging battery storage to ease grid stress during peak summer hours. Gramlich also shares his perspectives on the Inflation Reduction Act's impact on clean energy, including the significance of storage tax credits and the need for transmission cost allocation policies to develop the grid.

In observance of Independence Day in the US, SmartBrief will not publish Thursday, July 4.

We tend to listen to leaders who talk a lot. I mean, who wants a reticent leader who says little? U.S. Army officers Chaveso Cook and Joshua Bowen, however, make the case for leaders to be aware of just how much they are speaking and if they are cutting themselves off from hearing what their team members have to say.

Sometimes leaders speak to fill the silence, but what if creating some silence -- or even posing some insightful questions -- could make space for others to share their ideas and wisdom? Would you, as a leader, be willing to make that space?

Cook and Bowen offer two methods -- HALT and WAIT -- to help you become aware of when your words may fall on hungry, angry,  lonely or tired ears or when you may just be talking to hear yourself talk. In those moments, ask why you are talking and if your team is in the right frame of mind to really take in what you're saying.

"This calls leaders to ask more, listen better, and understand deeper. It calls for leaders to talk less," they write.

If you learn to listen more and talk less, you may find a depth of wisdom in your team that's just been waiting to be heard.

If this newsletter helps you, please tell your colleagues, friends or anyone who can benefit. Forward them this email, or send this link.

What topics do you see in your daily work that I should know about? Do you have praise? Criticism? Drop me a note. And don't forget to send me photos of your pets, your office and where you spend your time off.