Foundations of Team Leadership 1 Left Hand Column

2 Left-Hand Column In our day-to-day work and personal lives, we constantly carry on two dialogues- one public & one private You had great year! I want you to do 3 projects this year Last year was different. The projects are too complex this year. It can’t be done I will try my best. Transforming the Way We Work and Learn Together HRSLOFoundation of Team Leadership

Open FTL 5c-3 A (likely) Bank Conversation He is finally beginning to pay attention to what I am doing. The workload has been too much. I am exhausted and I am overwhelmed. The Sector Board is a sheer waste of my time. I am going to be buried in the institutional mess. You don’t appreciate what I do. This will not serve any useful purpose. And who is going to be doing my real work, when I’m doing this useless work up there? You don’t understand that this is far more than I can manage. I am really tired of working long hours. I can’t deliver what you are asking me to do. Either you don’t know what you are telling me, or you don’t care. SECTOR MANAGER: We need to talk about your job- What I expect you to do this year. SECTOR MANAGER: I expect you to spend most of your time on the Sector Board. You are the only person I can trust to serve us well on the Sector Board and we definitely need you there. Also you should support the Sector’s work across the Region. Do you really think it is a good use of my time to sit on the Sector Board? It will require 25%of my time. I can work more effectively in the field. ME: Good. I’d like to clarify my role, what I’m expected to deliver. The demands on my time are really very high

Open FTL 5c-4 Bridging the two columns It is useful to become aware of what is going on as a private conversation inside  So as to make a purposeful decision about raising concerns publicly or not..  The purpose is to be aware in making a choice one way or another  Sometimes, if we keep our private conversation to ourselves, we hinder learning and decision-making…  But if we say what we are thinking or feeling, we may make things worse by upsetting people, exposing ourselves, etc.  Sometimes we choose to pretty up” our private conversation before making it public…  Or sometimes we choose to say nothing  Sometimes how we are thinking is itself part of the problem…  Voicing our private conversation into something that we can make public so as to examine if the assumptions we may be treating as facts are in fact so, and where we may have gaps in our reasoning, can help solve a problem

Open FTL 5c-5 Questions for Self-Reflection RE a Conversation in the Past What led me to think and feel this way? What was my intention? What was I trying to accomplish? Did I achieve the results I intended? Why didn’t I say what was in my left-hand column? What was the COST of operating this way-or BENEFIT…? What prevented me from acting differently? How can I use my left-hand column as a resource to improve my communications?

Open FTL 5c-6 Individual Exercise & Partner Exchange You have 15 minutes to prepare your description. Refer to your business challenge, and think of an episode that was significant On the right side of the page, write down your best recollection of what you and others actually said and did. You don ’ t have to be precise, but it is important that you write down actual dialogue. On the left side of the page, write down any thoughts and feelings you had at the time and did not express. You will have 30 minutes for this exercise Form into Triads of people you have not worked on your Business Challenge yet with Take turns to describe your Business Challenge and your Left Hand Columns to one another When you are listening to your colleague, don ’ t give them advice or share your own examples of similar situations. Use the Questions for Reflection to help your colleague inquire more deeply into the situation and to gain further insight into the Business Challenge.