Why the Most Sophisticated Leadership Strategy Is Also the Simplest
Consider:
“Leaders entering a new high-stakes role can benefit from a deliberate practice of ongoing dialogues with stakeholders. To use them for check-ins, idea exchanges, and conflict management.”
Being new to a high-stakes role provides an opening; to do things differently, to question biases, to generate new momentum. A key practice to leverage this opening is fostering and maintaining open dialogue with stakeholders.
A dialogue has several relevant meanings for a new leader. According to Merriam-Webster, a dialogue can be a conversation, an exchange of ideas and opinions, and/or a discussion to resolve conflict.
You can think of these as varying types of communication and building blocks to deeper understanding and connection.
A conversation can be a regular check in with your boss to manage up
An exchange of ideas and opinions can align groups on the path forward
A discussion to resolve conflict can uncover roots of issues and facilitate cross-team collaboration
That is, dialogue compounds across moments of contact to build a connective tissue across stakeholders.
On my Land and Lead Podcast, several guests, each of them influential leaders, discussed the power of dialogue in these three formats.
Dialogue as an (ongoing) conversation to manage up
Wade Allen, President of Win Brands, leads a multi-brand organization that is headed by two co-owners who are industry veterans. Wade discussed the delicate balance between input and autonomy and the value of regular check-ins with company owners:
“Every week we meet, the two of them and me and we just talk openly and we openly communicate. And as long as I'm very open with my communication of what's happening and how it's being navigated and what's going on and where the struggles are: one, they feel connected, and two, they feel comfortable with the decisions I'm making because they always know they have this timeframe that they could either help course correct or give advice or provide some feedback.”
Through this continuous dialogue, Wade and the co-owners are able to align and propel the business forward more effectively. Wade shared that this practice is “going really well.” In Wade’s case, this form of dialogue supports the often-complicated dynamic between successor mandate and predecessor legacy and enables what Wade calls, “managing up.”
Dialogue as an exchange of ideas and opinions to co-create the path forward
Four months into his role as President and CEO of GBMC HeathCare, Paari Gopalakrishnan, explained he and his team’s approach to leadership:
“We don't know all the answer[s]…we're not going to deliver a plan and say follow this. [We] truly expect a two-way conversation, and we truly expect to kind of navigate this together.”
Paari’s use of a two-way conversation illustrates his use of dialogue to co-create the organization and signals several powerful messages: that stakeholders will be included in decision-making, that the leadership team aims to be open, and that organization success is a journey developed through communication.
Dialogue as a discussion to resolve conflict and facilitate cross-team collaboration
Upon entering the role of North America President at Sapiens and following a series of Mergers and Acquisitions, Yariv Hasar observed a challenge in cross-team collaboration. In this case, the conflict was around hand offs between teams. To address this challenge, Yariv explained that he brought the teams together to share his observations and ask them for suggestions. Yariv discussed the power of group dialogue over one leader deciding on group practices:
“If we were not doing this dialogue and giving it as an open question, perhaps we would have settled to my, I would say, pre-designed solution which is not necessarily the ideal.” Instead, by bringing the team together Yariv shared that “we came up with a somewhat different, I would say, flavor or variant of what I had in mind.”
He shared that today, they have raised the bar several levels and he has heard positive feedback from customers. Here, we see that dialogue can facilitate deeper understanding, alignment, and operational gains across teams.
How to host your own dialogues
Leaders entering a new high-stakes role can benefit from a deliberate practice of ongoing dialogues with stakeholders. To use them for check-ins, idea exchanges, and conflict management. Critically, dialogue can enhance a new leader’s understanding of the organization and vice versa.
In my work with leaders, teams, and organizations, I often recommend the following forums for dialogue:
1:1 check-ins for colleague/manager dialogues
Offsites for in-depth team dialogues
Discussion forums between team and functional area dialogues
All hands meetings for broad, comment and Q&A-based dialogues
Lunch and learns or focus groups for survey style, cross-sectional dialogues
Plenary for broad, break-out group dialogues
While the forums can vary and should be designed to fit the configuration of stakeholders involved, guiding principles for engagement are critical to ensure dialogues are productive. Here are three guiding principles I share with clients prior to any facilitated discussion:
Discussion can be challenging. Everyone holds a different perspective and has something valuable to contribute.
Contributions are opportunities for exploration. Share if you disagree but also be curious about why.
Your role is to share, be curious, surface assumptions, discuss challenges, discover opportunities, and help the group develop a shared path forward.
I have found that pairing these guiding principles with team best practices, the right forum, and thoughtful facilitation can produce powerful insights for stakeholders, or what I call “aha moments” that produce enhanced working practices and relationships.
Every new leader must design their path forward. From what guests shared on the Land and Lead podcast and from what I have seen in my own work with leaders transitioning into high-stakes roles, that path is best designed in a spirit of partnership with stakeholders.
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