DIALOGUE, LISTENING, AND REFLECTION AS LEADERSHIP TOOLS

First, for those of you who check my blog periodically, I apologize that I haven’t blogged since March. In April and May, I had the pleasure of providing leadership consulting to a global company.  My portion of the project was aptly entitled “voice of the customer”.  In May, I designed and presented two leadership workshops in Ireland on leadership, strategy, and power. 

And, then life happened…four family members passed away within a six week period between the ages of 16 and 92.  Most of the last few months, I’ve been talking about the fragility of life and the unexpectedness of death with family.  We’ve listened to each other’s stories and memories of our lives together. And, I’ve spent much time reflecting on the loss of loved ones.  It’s been difficult to think about the loss for any sustainable period of time without being consumed by sorrow. 

Dialogue, listening, and reflection are key components of my approach to working with leaders and having that ability has been important for me in the last few weeks.  Peter Vaill, writer and educator says that through dialogue and reflection “We come to know-how and know-what and beyond these we can come to know-why – we can come to an understanding of the meaning and value of the subject or activity and come to see it in its larger context as a form of human activity.”

I’ve realized that sometimes we just have to reflect, let go, and move on.  Difficult to do…but ultimately key leadership components of understanding that we are part of a larger story and journey in our personal and professional lives. 

Til next week,

Dr. M.