Uber CEO: This 'underappreciated skill' separates highly successful leaders from most people
Khosrowshahi explained: "There are all kinds of courses on executive leadership, and I still haven't seen a course on listening. Yet the common theme I've seen in life and with executives that are very high up on the ladder is that the higher you go in a company, the less you actually know about what's really happening on the ground."

"Listening is such an underappreciated skill," the 54-year-old executive said Wednesday during an event for industry leaders hosted by GE in New York City.

If you ask Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, the C-Suite skill that matters most isn't decisiveness or the ability to command a room — it's being a good listener.

Speaking with Ford CEO Jim Farley, the head of the ride-hailing company stressed the importance of "walking the halls" and talking directly to employees across various teams to build a more positive, productive work environment.

"I see a lot of managers managing to KPIs versus actually understanding the product that they're delivering and how it's made," he explained. "As a leader, you've got to set that example."

At the height of the pandemic, Khosrowshahi said he moonlighted as an Uber driver to learn more about, and improve, the driver experience.

This isn't the first time Khosrowshahi has underscored listening as a critical leadership skill. In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, he said listening was the most important thing he learned from one of his mentors, media mogul Barry Diller.

"He really values learning even though he's an incredibly accomplished person," he said of Diller. "He listens, he'll push back against you, and ultimately you both leave the meeting having learned something."

Sarah Sarkis, a psychologist who works with Fortune 100 executives at Exos, a performance coaching company, agrees with Khosrowshahi.

What sets high achievers apart from everyone else, Sarkis told CNBC Make It in July, is that they excel at communicating — and active listening is "an important, underrated" part of that, she said.

"Few people know how to be fully present in a conversation and respond thoughtfully to what another person is saying," Sarkis added.