Up the "Thinking" Quality in your Organisation

I got asked a really interesting question this week.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬?

One that immediately came to mind…

𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫?

1️⃣ Everything we do depends on the quality of the thinking we do first (Nancy Kline)

2️⃣ It doesn’t matter whether you are a leader by official title or not; being able to give quality attention to others to help them do their best thinking is a powerful skill to have.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬?

💡 Listen to understand, not just to reply.. how often do you find your mind drifting to "what should I say next" instead of staying present? 

💡 Resist the temptation to interrupt when someone else is speaking. Turn-taking in meetings or a pre-agreed structure can help with ensuring everyone gets time to speak.

💡 Check your ego at the door- focus on creating an environment where people can contribute & build together, rather than showing up as smarter or knowing more.

💡 Be intentional about making space for others and differing opinions, for example doing simple check-in rounds at the beginning of meetings to bring everyone’s voice into the room. 

💡 Look at some more structural cultural components; front of mind are values, principles, etc., as frameworks that can actually help people make more decisions independently and enhance autonomy.

I highly recommend the work of Nancy Kline for anyone who wants to learn more about this skill. A book summary I did 2 years ago can be found here.

#Culture #Leadership #Listening