The Conversation is the Relationship...

I just finished working with a client's retail team. A major part of our work together focused on defining their vision for the future and on their current sense of identity - literally, the questions "who are we" and "where do we belong". It goes without saying that the level of emotional engagement exhibited by their people relative to both of these areas will be crucial to their utlimate success. Of course, the question is how to achieve high levels of emotional engagement.

One way is to create the space for an intentional conversation. A focused conversation that places people in relationship with both as well as with each other. It's our position that the conversation about the company's vision and about the team's identity needs to be structured so that it becomes the relationship rather than being about the relationship.

By making time for conversational exploration it becomes possible for the individual's voice to be heard; for their assumptions to be aired and vetted; for the ownership of the vision to begin to transfer, and for a common identity to be forged. In being allowed to have a voice we create the probability of emotional engagement. Simply put, it's impossible for me to be passionate about another's vision...I can only be passionate about mine. It's with my vision that I have a relationship. It's with my vision that I have ongoing conversations.

Comments

[Jorge Estrada]

I agree so much with what you are saying here, making time for the conversation. In my experience, part of the challenge is that in this day and age of producing results and the hard numbers, leaves organizations many times with no time, or no time or too little is allocated to such critical and fundamental conversations. You all remember that book from a few years ago titled Dialogue, in which we are reminded so clearly that we have lost the art of conversation and dialogue. Making time for that conversation allows us all to CONNECT, in many different ways I believe, yes about the Vision, about our assumptions and such, but also about being human.