Encyclopedia of Leadership

RELATED LEADERSHIP TOOLS

1.6 Boards of Play 8.5 Metacommunicating 9.5 Negotiation

5.9 Resistance 8.6 Communication 101 12.6 Confrontation

FOR FURTHER ASSISTANCE

Senge, Peter M., Richard Ross, Bryan Smith, Charlotte Roberts, and Art Kleiner. The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook:
Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organization.Currency Doubleday, 1994.

244 SECTION 8 TOOLS FORCOMMUNICATION

Purpose

__ to analyze and decide

Preparation

__ Pay attention to your intentions.

__ Be clear about what you want.

__ Plan the agenda and context for discussion.

__ Create a safe haven (openness and trust are

essential).

__ Balance advocacy with inquiry.

__ Build shared meaning (recognize that words are

abstractions).

__ Use self-awareness as a resource. (Ask yourself: “What

am I feeling?” (Pause.) “What do I want at this

moment?” (Pause.)

__ Explore impasses and encourage new perspectives.

(Ask, “What do we agree on?” and “What do we

disagree on?”)

Outcomes

__ Decisions are made.

__ People leave with priorities and work assignments.

Purpose

__ to balance advocacy with inquiry

__ to discover the nature of choices and options

Elements

__ invitation (People are given the choice to

participate.)

__ generative listening (Listen for deeper meanings.)

__ self-observation and introspection

__ surfacing and inquiring into assumptions (Describe

what’s behind one’s thinking; refrain from imposing

views on others.)

Principles

__ Use a facilitator, as the process is initially unfamiliar

and surfaces difficult misunderstandings.

__ Start with techniques, then leave them behind. (You

can’t force understanding, but you can create

conditions under which dialogue can occur.)

__ Create a safe place to take a risk.

__ Let things evolve. (Have a focus, but no specific

outcome, in mind.)

__ Be self- and group aware. (Pay attention to what is

happening within the group and within yourself.)

__ Use disagreement as an opportunity. (Explore

differences, even though they may not be easily

resolved.)

Outcomes

__ Deeper understanding

__ Foundation for team decision making

Discussion Dialogue