Leadership can be seen as making informed decisions for the good of the group. I think the key word here is ‘informed’. Good leaders will use the power of conversations to gather ideas, test concepts and gauge feelings in teams and organizations. A conversation is often described as an informal exchange of ideas - not many people can get through a day without some form of conversation playing out.
Using conversations creates opportunity for people to feel part of a decision or even that they have influenced or guided the decision. It immediately creates a situation of involvement and that ensures being onside and supportive. It is however important for a leader to take the pulse of the conversation and win over those with strongly opposing views, once they have been seriously discussed and considered. Glossing over or ignoring input to a conversation could easily turn the situation around, where the outcome of the conversation is dissatisfaction and mutiny!
Good leaders will take time and effort to bring a conversation to a positive close even in rejecting input that is not accepted, by carefully showing appreciation for the input, yet firmly offering counter thoughts that negate the input. This allows the conversation come to a positive close. In extreme cases the conversation may need to be reconvened to work through difficult points.
In our experience open conversations allow teams to interact, build alignment, set common goals and agree the overarching metrics for success. They don’t always happen spontaneously, and they do need to produce results and actions or decisions - but they can be around the coffee machine, in formal settings and even form a regular part of team meetings
Till next week
Key take-outs:
Informed decisions are often underwritten by open conversations
Conversations can help strengthen teams and build alignment
Conversations must be carefully managed to end positively.