participatory leadership

Genuine engagement requires moving beyond comfort. Here is why promising safety and comfort in a meeting designed for real change gets in the way.

A well-tested formula identifies exactly what must outweigh resistance for organizational change to succeed. There is one addition to it that makes it significantly more powerful.

A well-run, multi-million dollar health project was falling behind – not because the team lacked skill, but because something more fundamental was missing.

People are full of ideas for something better. Participatory methods bring that wisdom into the parts of the organization where it matters most.

When someone drifts away mid-conversation, they have clicked off. Understanding why it happens during change conversations is the first step to bringing them back.

The best organizational knowledge rarely surfaces in formal surveys or interviews. Story sharing – without the pressure to justify – accesses what people know but haven't yet said.

Every present-moment situation has a backstory that shapes it. Pausing to understand that context before forming a perspective is one of the most useful leadership habits available.

The best ideas in most organizations are never heard inside them. They stay at the supper table. Creating the right conditions for sharing changes that.

A room of women with no reason to trust, and a twenty-year-old who somehow got it right. This is where four decades of meeting practice began.

A three-year-old's clear invitation for a walk in the woods – rules included – holds a practical lesson about what informed choice actually makes possible in meetings.