CHAPTER 4

Conversation

We construct meaning in conversation

Meaning-making is an art of leadership

Twenty-five years ago my former colleagues and I began to frame ways to construct and lead conversations that were genuinely strategic.[1]

We were struck by how many meetings seemed to meander for want of clear intent. Agendas, reports, and minutes didn’t seem to help and people struggled to name with real insight the purpose for meeting. Colleagues met and talked but rarely seemed to engage with each other.

We watched the ways language and conversation would open or close the space to imagine and frame a strategic argument. We began to build ...

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