Make sure soft voices are heard by Dr. Owen Phelps, The Catholic Leader A journal for Catholic leaders in all walks of life Im an overt extrovert. So when I first heard the oft-recorded song by Johnny Mercer and Rube Bloom quoting Alexander Pope about how fools rush in where angels fear to tread, I was pretty sure the reference was to me. Of course, Im not the only person is the world who jumps into a conversation at the first opportunity. But as Ive learned over the years, not everyone is like me. A great many people with a great deal of wisdom are content to sit on the sideline in a group discussion and not contribute a thing beyond their presence. When that happens, we miss a lot. So leaders have to realize that for teams to perform at the optimum, they have to mine the wisdom of everyone at the table. Not all the contributions will be of equal value. But all of them will have some value -- even if its only to introduce a little needed reticence into the conversation. Not long ago I was on a conference call with a pastor and his pastoral team. The pastor welcomed me into the conversation and then to bring me up to speed he shared a few highlights regarding leadership development in his parish. But soon enough he stepped back and went around the table, eliciting comments from everyone present. All of the remarks were valuable in giving me a more complete picture of dynamics in the parish and how members of its leadership team are contributing. I was grateful that the pastor made sure everyone had a chance to contribute. In the small group activities imbedded in our Encounters, we watch the time allotted for discussion. With a minute or two left in each activity, we urge groups to make sure everyone has a chance to contribute. These discussions are always a highlight of the overall experience. In a recent post on Harvard Business Review, Cathy Davidson offered three suggestions for optimizing the contributions that everyone can make to a small group discussion: • Air out differences. Create a culture in which people are comfortable talking openly about the opportunities and challenges of working together. You might start with a new group by inviting members to confidentially send you their concerns about the groups dynamics. Then you can present them in such a way as keep them anonymous and focused on improving performance rather than becoming personal attacks. • Let the non-experts talk first. Often the experts and/or extroverts cant wait to weigh in on the subject. To avoid having them monopolize the conversation, invite those with the least expertise or greatest reticence to give their perspectives first. • Ask what you are missing. Before ending a conversation, make it a habit to ask one person what the conversation may have overlooked. Dont appoint the person in advance. Instead, randomly select someone at each meeting. When its done consistently, it keeps everyone attentive. After asking one person to comment on whats mission, you can give everyone a chance to weigh in.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 14:23:00 +0000
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