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Jennifer Gremmels on the Value of Active Listening in Communications

Every message that lands starts with the communicator listening closely enough to understand the people they are trying to reach.  

Jennifer Gremmels is a communications leader with deep experience across internal and external communications, change management, media relations, and crisis communications. She currently serves as Director of Regulatory Communications at AbbVie, where she leads a team focused on regulatory communications and change management, partnering with senior leaders to support enterprise growth, engagement, and operational excellence. 


In this episode, Jennifer joins Kristen to talk about why she views active listening as a deliberate leadership behavior. 


Note: Jennifer’s comments in this episode are her own and do not reflect those of her employer.								

				

				

				

							

			

		

						

				

				

				

					
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The Big Idea: Active Listening Is a Deliberate Leadership Behavior 
				

				

				

				

							

			

		

						

				

				

				

									Jennifer’s dedication to active listening began when she was a young reporter. Back then, she sometimes missed people’s answers because she was focused on her next question. Over time, she learned to be fully present during interviews, a skill that remains central to her communications work today. 

In her change management work, Jennifer uses active listening to reduce defensiveness and build trust. She explains that when people feel truly heard, they are more willing to accept change. For Jennifer, active listening is not a passive or soft skill. She looks for it when building her team because she knows that people who can listen well will excel in change management and create messages that truly resonate with people.

								

				

					

		

					

		

				

						

					

			

						

				

							

			

						

		

						

				

				

				

							

							
"I've heard people call it a soft skill, passive skill. I think it is a deliberate leadership behavior to be an active listener."

			
						

				

											

													

					
										

														
Jennifer Gremmels

																						
Director of Regulatory Communications at AbbVie

													

									

			

					

						

				

					

		

					

		

				

						

					

			

						

				

					
Key Takeaways
				

				

				

				

							

			

		

						

				

				

				

									
    
 	
  • Allowing people to express themselves in their own words removes defensiveness and signals respect, making people more open to the change you’re asking of them.
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  • Taking the time to consider the right approach or gather cross-functional input before communicating often yields a better decision than simply acting quickly. 
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  • A feeling that something isn’t right is your brain processing signals you can’t consciously articulate.
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  • The colleagues who push back hardest are often the ones most invested in the outcome; pulling them into the conversation can turn them from critics into contributors.
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  • Managing expectations helps build trust. It’s better to say what you can actually do, like passing along feedback, than to make promises you can’t keep.
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