informal coalitions

Getting 'real' with "veridical perception"!

As I was sorting through some of my books earlier today, I came across David Ewing's Practice of Planning. Published in 1968, this was one of the texts to which I referred in a thesis on organizational planning way back in 1980 (see here for the first in a series of posts based on its findings).

My reason for commenting on it today is that it fell open at a section headed "Veridical Perception". Given that much of my current practice is based on encouraging managers to engage directly with the everyday conversational life of their organizations, I was interested to read Ewing's introduction to the concept:

Making the most of "the leader as host"

Mark McKergow who is perhaps best known for his work on the Solutions Focus approach to organizational change and coaching, has just launched a new website to explore and promote the metaphor of "Leader as Host". This is an interesting concept. It offers an alternative way of looking at leadership in organizations. And, in doing so, it might provoke some new insights into its process and practice.

In an accompanying working paper, McKergow sets out six aspects of “hosting” that he maintains apply equally well to the practice of leadership in organizations. Hosts (and hence leaders), he argues:

• Create great spaces (physical and psychological) – and are active in them.
• Use the ‘soft power’ of invitation (rather than the ‘hard power’ of coercion).
• Have ‘Response-ability’ (Balancing defining the event AND responding to what happens).
• Use Co-participation (Balancing providing for everyone AND joining in alongside everyone else).
• Ensure judicious Gate-opening (Balancing defending boundaries AND making new connections).
• Spend time front stage, on the balcony (taking an overview) and back stage (developing their capabilities).

McKergow positions the notion of Leader as Host in relation to what he describes as the established polar opposites of Leader as Hero and Leader as Servant (after Robert Greenleaf). He argues,

“This new metaphor could be viewed as a Hegelian synthesis – it not only includes both of the others, but offers a new perspective with many creative possibilities.”

Leadership communication - the conversations are the work

In a recent couple of posts (here and here), Johnnie Moore explains why he so dislikes panel sessions at meetings and conferences. And why these – like other formats that marginalize ‘audience’ participation - fall so far short of common-or-garden conversation as an effective and engaging mode of communication.

“They [the audience] probably deep down want conversation, but the whole format deprives them of it. Starved of relationship, of course they struggle to relate successfully to others in the room.

I'll go a bit further with this. The panellists themselves probably want a conversation too, but are onstage and self-conscious, so they give a performance of a conversation instead of having
a real one.”

I agree wholeheartedly with Moore on this. And with the general thrust of his argument.