Storytelling conversation and the art of leadership
Storytelling conversation and the art of leadership
With genuine conversation, not only is the work experience improved, decisions and the agreed directions become clearer because conversation creates understanding.
Lofty instructions do not do it, nor do those exhausting and lengthy quizzing sessions that pass for meetings in many offices.
There are six ways to create workplace trust through the Art of Conversation.
1. Be a good host
• If colleagues are early, be sure they feel welcome and comfortable. This includes offering them refreshment and reading material. You might briefly say hello, even if you can’t meet with them just yet.
• Have a plan for the meeting, and share this with them.
• Monitor the time, keep it moving in a businesslike and friendly way. If meetings often go overtime, allocate more time. Don’t think the length of the meeting is a measure of quality.
• Allow for short breaks if needed, a few moments of stretching the legs can make the second half as active as the first.
• Reduce interruptions because you have nothing better to do right now than meet with them, giving them your complete attention.
• If you genuinely “like” people and look forward to catching up, this attitude will show through in your eyes and your body language.
2. Extract information painlessly
• If you ask too many questions or produce too many forms, people will suffer fatigue and their recollections become confused. Short term you might get a result, but long term problems are on the way.
• When you need staff to spend some time giving information, be sympathetic and explain the importance of it.
• Try to extract information in the flow of the conversation, rather than having a set list of questions. This makes it less of an interrogation and more a shared experience.
3. Listen
• The words “listen” and “silent” have the same letters, for much the same reason that we have two ears and one mouth.
• Only through listening can you judge a level of understanding and potential for confusion and worry. That way you can plant the seeds of confidence instead of fuelling the fires of fear.
• We listen to people we like and talk over people we think are not as smart as us. How do you rate?
4. Become a story-teller
• The best leaders gain followers by telling stories, not by listing features, promoting benefits or issuing orders. We love to hear stories. Think about the conference speaker you really liked; chances are they were telling you stories about their life.
• Making complexity simple is a way of thinking and a challenge for everyone.
• Avoid becoming an habitual “qualifier”, the kind who makes a nice simple statement about a direction and instead of waiting to hear a response launches into difficulties and side issues.
• Make sure that your firm has its stories do, for these define your brand.
5. Give people space
• If you see staff as “things” to be manipulated and controlled, by all means use your authority or high pressure techniques, but don’t pretend you are a leader.
• Giving space is like giving respect and like showing that you care. Remember, nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.
• Leave space for people to put your course of action into their own words. Encourage this, and they will often bring it to a conclusion.
6. Evaluate and improve
• Take a course; create a “conversational” office culture.
• After each meeting, make a few notes on what you did well, where you missed and how to improve. This makes you mindful of communication, and that makes you better at the art of conversation.
Storytelling conversation and the art of leadership - To learn more about this author, visit Stephen Manallack's Website.
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There is a real business benefit in learning how to create trust within workplaces through the Art of Conversation. Most good conversation is based on stories, and this applies to business as much as to the personal.
With genuine conversation, not only is the work experience improved, decisions and the agreed directions become clearer because conversation creates understanding.
Lofty instructions do not do it, nor do those exhausting and lengthy quizzing sessions that pass for meetings in many offices.
There are six ways to create workplace trust through the Art of Conversation.
1. Be a good host
• If colleagues are early, be sure they feel welcome and comfortable. This includes offering them refreshment and reading material. You might briefly say hello, even if you can’t meet with them just yet.
• Have a plan for the meeting, and share this with them.
• Monitor the time, keep it moving in a businesslike and friendly way. If meetings often go overtime, allocate more time. Don’t think the length of the meeting is a measure of quality.
• Allow for short breaks if needed, a few moments of stretching the legs can make the second half as active as the first.
• Reduce interruptions because you have nothing better to do right now than meet with them, giving them your complete attention.
• If you genuinely “like” people and look forward to catching up, this attitude will show through in your eyes and your body language.
2. Extract information painlessly
• If you ask too many questions or produce too many forms, people will suffer fatigue and their recollections become confused. Short term you might get a result, but long term problems are on the way.
• When you need staff to spend some time giving information, be sympathetic and explain the importance of it.
• Try to extract information in the flow of the conversation, rather than having a set list of questions. This makes it less of an interrogation and more a shared experience.
3. Listen
• The words “listen” and “silent” have the same letters, for much the same reason that we have two ears and one mouth.
• Only through listening can you judge a level of understanding and potential for confusion and worry. That way you can plant the seeds of confidence instead of fuelling the fires of fear.
• We listen to people we like and talk over people we think are not as smart as us. How do you rate?
4. Become a story-teller
• The best leaders gain followers by telling stories, not by listing features, promoting benefits or issuing orders. We love to hear stories. Think about the conference speaker you really liked; chances are they were telling you stories about their life.
• Making complexity simple is a way of thinking and a challenge for everyone.
• Avoid becoming an habitual “qualifier”, the kind who makes a nice simple statement about a direction and instead of waiting to hear a response launches into difficulties and side issues.
• Make sure that your firm has its stories do, for these define your brand.
5. Give people space
• If you see staff as “things” to be manipulated and controlled, by all means use your authority or high pressure techniques, but don’t pretend you are a leader.
• Giving space is like giving respect and like showing that you care. Remember, nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.
• Leave space for people to put your course of action into their own words. Encourage this, and they will often bring it to a conclusion.
6. Evaluate and improve
• Take a course; create a “conversational” office culture.
• After each meeting, make a few notes on what you did well, where you missed and how to improve. This makes you mindful of communication, and that makes you better at the art of conversation.
Storytelling conversation and the art of leadership - To learn more about this author, visit Stephen Manallack's Website.
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Michel NerayMichel Neray has over 25 years of experience as an award-winning copywriter, an Internet pioneer, a tradeshow pitchman and a senior sales and marketing executive. An online pioneer, he was one of the first marketing professionals to embrace the Internet by building websites as early as 1993. In 1994, Michel co-authored a book entitled "The Great Crossover: Personal Confidence in the Age of the Microchip", which made it to Jack Canfield's Achiever's Recommended Reading List. Michel founded Portfolios.com in 1995, the world's first online source directory for creative professionals and one of the first websites based on community generated content. Since creating The Essential Message in 2003, Michel has helped thousands of independent professionals and entrepreneurs as well as growing corporations find a better way to differentiate, position and brand themselves. In 2005, his chapter "Everything Starts With A Conversation" was selected as the lead for the book, "Sales Gurus Speak Out" and re-published in 2008 for 'Awakening The Workplace Volume 3'. He is also a co-author of "In the Company of Leaders" (2008) with 40 top North American leadership experts. - Visit Michel Neray's Website |
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Joe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: http://www.business901.com Web/Blog: http://www.FundingYourNonprofit.com http://www.linkedin.com/in/business901 – Linked In http://www.twitter.com/business901 – Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Dr. John OdaJohn Oda Ph.D NLP is a business peak performance expert, an author, and speaker frequently called upon to provide corporate training, workshops and seminars for many companies in the United States. He is an expert in coaching sales and business professionals in overcoming the behaviors and obstacles that may impede their sales results and affect their bottom line. Since 1995, John has created a speaking bureau such topics, which include: time management, sales training, human diversity, leadership programs and etc. He provides companies with a strategic plan to increase their bottom line by over 25 percent yearly. - Visit Dr. John Oda's Website |
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