an online book by David Gurteen
Let the conversation flow at its own pace, don’t try to rush it or control it.
You need to let go and be part of the conversation.
Credit: Max Weiss
To practice Conversational Leadership, it is essential to understand the difference between Conversational Leadership mindset, skills, habits, and methods.
A Conversational Leadership mindset is our mental attitudes, approaches, or ways of thinking about practicing Conversational Leadership. Our beliefs, values, and experiences shape it, impacting our ability to hold productive conversations and practice effective leadership.
Conversational Leadership skills involve facilitating open and constructive conversations, actively listening, building trust, and empowering others to collaborate towards shared goals.
Conversational Leadership habits are how we use those abilities daily, such as avoiding judgment, showing empathy, and being present in a conversation. We develop these habits and tendencies over time through repeated actions and experiences.
Conversational Leadership methods are structured conversational processes that bring a group of people together to discuss a topic or an issue.
Developing our Conversational Leadership mindset, skills, habits, and methods improves our ability to lead and communicate effectively.
In this chapter, I explore some of the more powerful conversational methods that anyone can use.
World Café Improving Performance with After-action Reviews Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close A conversational method is a method of facilitation that helps create more open and inclusive conversations among a group. It is designed to empower … Continue reading Introduction: Conversational Methods Ways of structuring conversations
Introduction: Conversational Methods Anecdote Circles Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close It’s easy to move from one activity to the next without pausing to reflect. This absence of reflection often results in repeated mistakes and missed opportunities … Continue reading Improving Performance with After-action Reviews Building a culture of improvement
Improving Performance with After-action Reviews Conversation Covenant Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close An anecdote circle is a narrative technique used to guide participants in sharing stories. Shawn’s first anecdote circle | Shawn Callahan Resources Anecdote: Anecdote … Continue reading Anecdote Circles A narrative technique to guide participants in sharing stories
Anecdote Circles Brainstorming Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close In challenging conversations, differing viewpoints can lead to tension and misunderstandings. A conversation covenant offers a structured approach to ensure respectful, constructive dialogue. By establishing agreed-upon guidelines, it … Continue reading Conversation Covenant Creating a psychologically safer space for difficult conversations
Conversation Covenant Brown-bag Lunches ** Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close What is brainstorming? Brainstorming is a popular ideation technique for generating new ideas. The basic premise is to get a group together and have them share … Continue reading Brainstorming A group discussion to produce a list of ideas or solutions to a problem.
Brainstorming C-group Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close A brown bag lunch is a casual, in-work learning experience for employees. It is often used as an occasional means of conveying work-related information but primarily broadens employee knowledge … Continue reading Brown-bag Lunches ** An informal opportunity to learn at work
Brown-bag Lunches ** Bridging Divides ** Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close Purpose The C-group is an innovative, experiential, and transformative learning methodology that enables a small group of people to practice and develop their interpersonal and … Continue reading C-group Develop your interpersonal and conversational skills
C-group Community of Innovation ** Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close Resources OECD: Bridging divides in a post-truth world [Status: stub] POST NAVIGATION C-group Community of Innovation ** Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the … Continue reading Bridging Divides **
Bridging Divides ** Community of Practice ** Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close A Community of Innovation (COI) is a form of Community of Practice that is dedicated to the support of innovation. Resources Wikipedia: Community of … Continue reading Community of Innovation ** A form of community of practice that is dedicated to the support of innovation.
Community of Innovation ** Connection Before Content Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close A community of practice (COP) is a group of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how … Continue reading Community of Practice ** A group of people who share a passion for something they do
Community of Practice ** Conversare Events Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close Relationships shape how we work together. Too often, tasks take priority over connection, making collaboration difficult. Building relationships first—connection before content—creates trust, engagement, and openness, … Continue reading Connection Before Content Without relatedness, no work can occur
Connection Before Content Understanding Debates Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close Conversare events are social gatherings in public places where people engage in one-to-one conversations with strangers. Conversare events are the brainchild of Alan Stewart, who runs them … Continue reading Conversare Events Social gatherings which people engage in one-to-one conversation with a stranger
Conversare Events The Dérive Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close Debates are an essential part of communication, allowing for the exchange of differing viewpoints. However, understanding their various forms and purposes can be challenging. By exploring the … Continue reading Understanding Debates Argument is meant to reveal the truth, not to create it
Understanding Debates Dialogue Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close A dérive is an unplanned journey through a landscape, usually urban, on which the subtle aesthetic contours of the surrounding architecture and geography subconsciously direct the travelers with … Continue reading The Dérive An unplanned journey through a urban landscape
The Dérive Dialogic Organization Development Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close The meaning of dialogue The word dialogue has several meanings depending on the context in which it is used. If you look up the word in … Continue reading Dialogue Dialogue is a disciplined form of conversation
Dialogue Flipped Teaching Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close Dialogic Organization Development or Dialogic OD, for short, is about “changing the conversations” that shape everyday thinking and behavior. Diagnostic OD Organization Development (OD) has been around since … Continue reading Dialogic Organization Development From a dialogic perspective, change results from transformational conversations
Dialogic Organization Development The Power of Team Huddles Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close Flipped teaching reverses, or “flips”, traditional in-class lectures and homework. Students watch the teacher’s prerecorded lecture at home, and in-class time is used … Continue reading Flipped Teaching Speech is a bad medium for communicating information – so watch lectures at home
Flipped Teaching The Oracy Lab Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close Team alignment and communication can be challenging. Miscommunication and lack of cohesion often result in inefficiencies and missed opportunities. As a key tool of Conversational Leadership, … Continue reading The Power of Team Huddles How brief team gatherings can align, motivate, and connect
The Power of Team Huddles Ongoing Performance Conversations Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close The Oracy Lab is an experimental space for exploring the power and possibilities of conversations and spoken communication for conveying meaning and co-creating … Continue reading The Oracy Lab An experimental space for exploring the power and possibilities of conversations
The Oracy Lab Open Space Technology ** Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close The days of the traditional annual or semi-annual performance review are coming to an end at many companies. These formal reviews are being replaced … Continue reading Ongoing Performance Conversations From annual performance reviews to on-going performance conversations
Ongoing Performance Conversations Peer Assist Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close Open Space Technology was created in the mid-1980s by organizational consultant Harrison Owen when he discovered that people attending his conferences loved the coffee breaks better … Continue reading Open Space Technology ** No formal agenda
Open Space Technology ** Pitching by Conversation ** Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close A Peer Assist is a conversational method that brings together a group of peers to elicit feedback on a problem, project or activity, … Continue reading Peer Assist Learn from your peers; someone has already done it
Peer Assist Randomised Coffee Trials Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close Pitching is a speech or an act that attempts to persuade someone to buy or do something. It’s because a pitch is a really weird way … Continue reading Pitching by Conversation ** Ditch the pitch
Pitching by Conversation ** Ritual Dissent ** Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close A Randomized Coffee Trial, also known as an RCT, is a social experiment where individuals are randomly matched for coffee meetings, aiming to facilitate … Continue reading Randomised Coffee Trials It is just a coffee, but at the same time it is much more
Randomised Coffee Trials Speed Consulting Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close Ritual Dissent is a structured way for a group of peers to criticize proposals or ideas by subjecting them to ritualized dissent in order to improve them. … Continue reading Ritual Dissent ** A structured way for a group of peers to criticize proposals or ideas
Ritual Dissent ** Speed-conversation Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close Speed consulting is a conversational method that draws on the experience of participants to advise each other on how to address a specific problem or issue. It … Continue reading Speed Consulting Drawing on the experience of others
Speed Consulting Street Epistemology Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close I often run a speed-conversation session at the start of a Knowledge Café and workshops or conferences. It is a great ice-breaker and exceptionally easy to run. … Continue reading Speed-conversation Without relatedness, no work can occur
Speed-conversation Spectrum Street Epistemology Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close We all hold deeply rooted personal beliefs, many of which we have never questioned. Street Epistemology is a conversational technique based on the Socratic method, designed to … Continue reading Street Epistemology Exploring deeply held beliefs
Street Epistemology Reverse Brainstorming Café Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close Spectrum Street Epistemology is a variation of Street Epistemology that encourages people to explore their beliefs along a spectrum rather than as fixed positions. Instead of … Continue reading Spectrum Street Epistemology
Spectrum Street Epistemology Theodore Zeldin’s Conversation Dinners Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close Coming up with new ideas or insights in a conventional brainstorming session is often hard work and not very engaging. An alternative approach is … Continue reading Reverse Brainstorming Café Brainstorming the opposite of what you want
Reverse Brainstorming Café Town Hall Meeting ** Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close The Conversation Dinner, inspired by Theodore Zeldin, connects strangers for meaningful conversation. With a unique menu of thought-provoking questions, it encourages open exchanges that … Continue reading Theodore Zeldin’s Conversation Dinners Dinner and a stimulating conversation with a stranger
Theodore Zeldin’s Conversation Dinners Unhurried Conversations ** Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close Traditional Town Hall Meeting Town hall meetings also referred to as town halls or town hall forums, are a way for local and national … Continue reading Town Hall Meeting ** A meeting in which a report is made and participants have an opportunity to ask questions
Town Hall Meeting ** World Café Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close In an unhurried conversation, there is time to think differently and connect with people in a refreshing way. Unhurried isn’t always slow, but it has … Continue reading Unhurried Conversations ** Time to think differently
Unhurried Conversations ** Introduction: Conversational Methods Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close The World Café is a structured conversational process intended to facilitate open and intimate discussion, and link ideas within a larger group to access the “collective … Continue reading World Café A conversational process intended to facilitate open and intimate discussion
