Creating a Space for 'Dialogue' to Make Guiding Principles 'Personal'
This article offers tips I have practiced for leaders who feel they want to 'instill' guiding principles and policies into their team.
In my previous article, I shared how to summarize your team's guiding principles, or 'Credo,' onto a single sheet of paper and communicate them repeatedly.
By continuing to send out messages every week, I began to get the feeling that they were being 'understood'.
However, I felt I might not have reached the level of 'empathy.'
That sense of unease kept lingering.
The reason is simple.
It was a one-way communication from me.
I finally realized the necessity of a space where members can speak in their own words, rather than just having things pushed down from the top.
The 'Credo Practice Sharing' I started once a month
So, I set aside time at the beginning of our monthly meeting for 'Credo Practice Sharing'.
What I did was very simple.
I show and explain the Credo.
I randomly call on a member.
I have them talk about what they think about the Credo, what they are practicing, or what they want to practice in the future.
At first, some members were nervous.
But as we continued, the atmosphere of the space began to change.
When you 'speak with your own mouth,' values become personal.
For the person speaking, it becomes an opportunity to 'reinterpret the Credo in their own words,' and
for the members listening, it becomes an opportunity to concretely learn about their colleagues' values and the intentions behind their actions.
I realized that there is value in practicing this in a general setting like a team meeting.
What I felt after experiencing this is,
Empathy is born from speaking with your own mouth and from 'horizontal dialogue' between members.
that is.
A leader's role is not to 'convey' but to 'design the space'
Through this initiative, I have come to understand one aspect of the leader's role.
To create a space for dialogue so that values become 'personal'.
Simply broadcasting information is not enough.
You need spaces for dialogue, opportunities to talk, and mechanisms to hear the voices of colleagues.
By designing these elements, the team begins to move smoothly.
Introduction to the next article
Next time, I will introduce
case studies of using 1-on-1 questions and feedback
. Stay tuned!