A521.9.4.RB - Reflections on Leadership

In Chapter 12, Denning explicitly describes his dimensions of leadership. According to Denning (2011), the dimensions of interactive leadership are: 

1. The interactive leader works with the the world, rather than against it- The leader is fully involved and engaged in the world. They empower subordinates to lead and tackle projects. They think objectively, and choose to socialize and familiarize themselves with their subordinates. It’s not about controlling the world, but to use the resources to make task and decisions easier. For example, is like kayaking down stream and not upstream.  It’s easier to flow the down the water current than against it. Leaders are encourage to find ways to leverage their resources for the better good of the company. 

2. Interactive leadership builds on personal integrity and authenticity. These types of leaders are open to suggestions, can easily adapt to their environment and are open communicators. They communicates who they are as leaders and what they stand for. Others respect and follow their leadership style because they have prove themselves. The military has a chain of command where every individual has to show respect and follow their superior. This has been a rule that has been followed through generations.

3. Interactive leadership doesn’t depend on the possession of hierarchical authority. In other words, anyone in the team can contribute to the success of the team. The theme of the Navy is teamwork. Is hard to push a car by yourself, but when distributing the workload between others, the task become much easier. 

4. Interactive leadership benefits from an understanding of the different narrative patterns that can be used to get things done in the world.Connect with those around them through storytelling, and deliver a felt sense to their audience to better get their point across.

5. Interactive leadership both adds and subtracts elements from the leadership palette. They add certain information in order to achieve a desire outcome and can still subtract elements of the information to motivates others. For example, when i was deployed, the flight crew would get down because of the late night flight. I would motivate them by giving them an early day the next work day. This helped everyone stay positive and work harder because they knew they would get a break.

 Reading Chapter 12 of Dennings (2011) dimensions of interactive leadership was very informative. It is vital for leaders to be able to adapt their  environment and change with different situations, be open to learning and collaborating with your team and organization.

References:

Denning, S. (2011). The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of

          Business Narrative. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons/Jossey-Bass.

A521.8.4.RB - Making Contact

Communication skills are important in virtually every line of work and every part of life. Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, and Switzler (2011) mention that if one can master effective communication with strangers, that crucial conversations become less intimidating, and as a result, more positively effective. Becoming effective in this area is important for many levels and areas of success. It is also important in order to have an enjoyable life, in many ways. McKay, Davis and Fanning (2009) explain that each time we approach a stranger we are offering them the gift of interaction. During this interaction, there are certain things that can make it more pleasurable for both parties. One of these things is making sure that you are giving the same amount of attention, interest, and respect to the other person as you would want him-or-her to give you. Another point that is mentioned by McKay et al. (2009) is to make sure you have an outward focus rather than an inward focus during the conversation. Meaning you should be focused on what the other person is saying rather than worrying about how they perceive you to be or look. This allows for a genuine interest to be achieved within the communication process.

                   Through evaluating myself and my communication skills with others, I would have to say that, although I would like to continue to grow, that I am somewhat successful in making others feel valued, appreciated, and interesting. I enjoy finding out about others’ history, character, values, and interests, and tend to probe about these things in an un-offensive way. By providing self-disclosure before asking an informational question about the other person, I allow others to feel more at ease and less concerned about why I am asking certain things. It also allows us to relate to each other on an equal level rather than one of us feeling or acting superior. I also use active listening pretty frequently. Once they are done explaining a certain character trait or telling me about what they enjoy, I simply reword it or summarize it in my own way, with the tone being in the form of a question. When they confirm I can usually tell they feel appreciation, that I am caring enough to listen so intently. Their appreciation usually leads to more of an interest in me and my past, values, and interests; thus leading to a fun and effective conversation that may or may not develop into a friendship.

Although I am currently confident in my communication skills, I was not always so self-assured. As a child I had many habitual negative thoughts about myself concerning how others viewed me. My family moved into a new area where I felt sure that we didn’t fit in, and I approached every conversation with a stranger with this in the forefront of my mind. Rather than being focused outwardly, I was extremely inwardly focused. I worried about the car my family drove, the way I talked, the way I looked, etc. Lowndes (2003) points out the importance of communication through our body language, and how the way we move our facial expressions and hold our bodies tell more than our words, often times. My body language reflected my personal negative thoughts and judgments, as I had a hard time making any eye contact, I usually had my arms crossed, and I withheld and expression from showing on my face. After awhile though, I made a few friends who were kind enough to assure me that most of the things I feared about communication were false and not reality.

I soon allowed myself to be driven by personal dreams rather than others’ possible opinions of me. This pushed me to approach others with a little more confidence; however, it wasn’t until after my job required consistent interaction with numerous strangers that my communication skills developed so dramatically. Observing other successful communicators has shown me how to effectively start conversations that both parties can enjoy; however, lessons shown through McKay et al. (2009), such as showing others the same amount of interest and respect I have always desired has brought me to a place of greater confidence in this area.

Reference

Lowndes, L. (2003). How to talk to anyone: 92 little tricks for big success in relationships. Chicago, IL: Contemporary Books.

McKay, M., Davis, M., & Fanning, P. (2009). Messages: The communication skills book. Oakland: New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

Patterson, K., Grenny, J., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2011). Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

A521.7.4.RB - Secret Structure

Nancy Duarte, an expert in presentation design and CEO of Duarte Designs, gave a great TED Talks presentation. Duarte (2011) talked about the ability to change the world through communication. She emphasizes how we can learn from the past and tell a compelling story that will encourage others to follow. According to Denning (2011) "stories about the past enable us to make sense of the past and so move into the future" (p. 192). I’m a believer of learning from the past in order to avoid the same mistakes in the future. Everyone has role to play when it comes to shaping the future. However, not everyone has the motivation or guidance to make such advances. It takes people with vision and compassion for an idea or belief. According to Denning (2011), there are four key elements to storytelling: Style, Truth, Preparation, and Delivery (p41). Take for example Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, an American Baptist minister, activist, humanitarian and leader that change the world. His actions were conveyed through the speeches he made and the impact it had on people. Duarte (2011) talked about the art of drafting a powerful presentation. She describes Aristotle three-act structure; beginning, middle and end. There are heroes and archetypes; in which the audience is really the hero and the presenter is the mentor (Duarte, 2011). The structure of a presentation is very important. Duarte (2011) describes the structure of a great presentation: you have a likeable hero, and they encounter a roadblock, and ultimately they emerge transformed

Freytag’s Dramatic story structure (5-act structure):

A great presentation has a flow and takes the audience into journey where speaker persuade the audience to believe and live their ideas. Duarte (2011) found a correlation between the speeches of great leaders, like Dr. Martin Luther Jr. and Steve Jobs. These presentations will have a shape as shown below. The gap between “what is” and “what could be” needs to be big. The middle of this shape goes back and forth Duarte (2011). Basically, there is a unique flow where the presenter paints a picture and move the audience past the “what if” and the “what could be” into a call to action, which lead to the bliss and the ending with a very dramatic and poetic way (Duarte, 2011).

Leaders need to understand the art of presentation if they are to change the world. Through this course, I have seen the power and impact storytelling has. Effective communication is an important part of daily life and we should learn how to communicate effectively.  Duarte (2011) concludes by saying “The future is not a place that we get to go. It’s a place that you get to create.”

Denning, S. (2011). The Leaders Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Duarte, N. (2011). The secret structure of great talks. Retrieved May 08, 2016, from http://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_duarte_the_secret_structure_of_great_talks