Sunday, February 20, 2011

How protests are a gift to leadership

The protests in Wisconsin are a gift to Governor Walker. Why? The constituents (both sides) are offering their opinions openly and bringing their differences to the surface. When a leader gets this gift, it is a golden opportunity to create a shared way forward.

First, I am not a Democrat or Republican. I believe these both of groups will continue to keep us from getting anywhere because of the weight of their collective monologues. Debate is not an effective way of creating anything of value.

It appears to me that the real issue of contention here is the perception that Governor Walker is trying to union bust. I think he has a great idea without any possibility of success at the pace it's going now, because of the lack of trust (fueled by the folks who have the most to lose). The opportunity here is for the differences to create a shared way forward. To make this happen, the leader needs to shift leadership behaviors in two key areas; from teller to listener and from manager to facilitator.

At the core of these differences, are some areas of common ground. The obvious area is that most everyone would want the government to stay working. Most everyone wants the roads to be plowed and maintained, police departments to respond quickly and to fight crime, fire departments to respond to fires, schools to educate our children… There are also less obvious and extremely powerful commonalities that lie under the surface. There is a magic area somewhere upstream of "solutions".

Here is where the subtle shifts in leadership behaviors could be really effective. I would also add a third element here and that would be to publicly state that we were going to slow down the debate for a week, and enter into dialogue with each other.

Teller to listener

Governor Walker has put a stake in the ground by suggesting that the state workers and teachers have the ability to keep their union dues in their own pockets and offset the pain they would feel by having their benefits cut which would save significant taxpayer dollars (solution). Now is a great time to listen for understanding, not for agreement or disagreement but to just understand - what it is about this that doesn't work for the workers. He would most likely be hearing a lot of "what's wrong". When the workers declared that they felt understood, it would be their turn to listen for understanding. It is important that the leader take the first step here because it exposes a vulnerability – that builds trust.

Manager to facilitator

Once the workers could say "He understands our concerns" and his supporters could say "they understand our concerns" the Governor would have a great opportunity to lead by facilitation. Helping the workers and his supporters to convert "what's wrong" to "what's missing" meaning what's missing from this situation for us to be able to sign on for some kind of change and a way forward. This way forward would begin to take shape as a shared way forward. The groups that were once opposed would begin to take shape by growing the common ground and working together to find ways that worked for everyone.

This is the process of converting monologues (conversations that strive for the other side to agree) to dialogues (conversations that seek mutual understanding, beginning with me understanding you). It is the life work of Cultural Anthropologist William Stockton and his partners in Mobius Inc. I have personal experience with this work in a business setting, and I must admit it sounds like magic because it is.

If you are a leader/manager, be on the lookout for the gift of open dissention. When you see it, acknowledge your basal impulses to explain, defend or in any other way create more differences or solutions and make the courageous move of listening, identify common ground and facilitate a shared way forward.

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