Articles

Effective Leadership: One Conversation at a Time

Monday, 07 June 2010 17:47

Business is fundamentally an extended conversation. Whether you’re speaking with your boss, team members, colleagues or direct reports, conversations shape what gets done.

Leadership is applicable to all facets of life: a competency that you can learn to expand your perspective, set the context of a goal, understand the dynamics of human behaviour and take the initiative to get to where you want to be.

Leadership is an interactive conversation that pulls people toward becoming comfortable with the language of personal responsibility and commitment.

In her books, Fierce Conversations and Fierce Leadership, consultant Susan Scott explains that the word “fierce” doesn’t imply menace, cruelty or threats. In Roget’s Thesaurus, the word fierce is associated with the following synonyms like robust, intense, strong, powerful and passionate.

"The simplest definition of a fierce conversation is one in which we come out from behind ourselves, into the conversation, and make it real,” Scott writes.

Some people, however, are intimidated by the idea of talking about what’s real because it requires raw honesty and vulnerability.

In truth, it’s the unreal conversations that should scare us because they never address what needs to be said, cost businesses untold fortunes and limit individuals’ career advancement.

While politeness and constructive criticism matter, they should not come at the expense of meaningful interactions that explore diverse perspectives and competing recommendations.

Source: Susan Scott: Fierce Leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst "Best" Practices of Business Today