Leadership In Action: Issues and Observations—Realizing the Power of Candid Conversations

CREATING A SPACE

When people engage others in a way that seeks to learn about those others' perspectives and needs, they create a comfortable space in which others can feel more willing to share what they truly think. In this type of engagement, openness is often met with candor and disclosure. In a fruitful conversation, perspectives are exchanged, shared meaning is constructed, and leadership itself is forged. Wilfred H. Drath, a former CCL senior enterprise associate and senior fellow, and Charles J. Palus, a senior enterprise associate at CCL, have written that leadership is a social meaning-making process that occurs in groups. Through collective engagement emerge shared direction, alignment, and commitment. Creating this shared meaning ...