Conversational Leadership

Effective leaders understand how powerful an opportunity can be when they can tap into the intelligence, wisdom, and innovation present in their workforce. Conversational leadership provides the space and infrastructure for knowledge sharing to take place; for employees, stakeholders, and the community to be involved in discussing big, important questions; and to generate solutions that people within the organization can take action on. This two-day workshop will help teach participants all about conversational leadership and how to practice it in their organization.

• Understand the wisdom inherent in encouraging conversational leadership
• Describe the four I’s of conversational leadership
• Apply the principles of conversational leadership to improve results
• Organize a simple World Café as an example of conversational leadership

We will spend the first part of the day getting to know other participants and discussing what will take place during the workshop. Students will also have an opportunity to identify their personal learning objectives.

To begin the course, students will review their pre-assignment and consider what conversational leadership is all about.

This session explores some key concepts, including designing meaningful conversations and personal skill-building.

Next, participants will learn about the Four-I model: intimacy, interactivity, inclusion, and intentionality. Common language and trust will also be discussed.

In this session, participants will learn about the conversational leadership framework developed by Hurley and Brown. The role of appreciative inquiry in conversational leadership will also be discussed.

The course wraps up with an in-depth look at the structure of a World Café.

At the end of the course, students will have an opportunity to ask questions and fill out an action plan.