The best thing a courageous leader can do is to learn to have genuine, “fierce” conversations that change things.
As I watch the staggering inability of the world’s leaders to communicate with integrity and to engage people in solving the problems we face, I am reminded of one of the best leadership books I have ever read: Fierce Conversations, by Susan Scott.
Does the word “Fierce” scare you? It shouldn’t. The lack of it is what should scare the living daylights out of you. As defined on the book’s cover “fierce” means “robust, intense, strong, powerful, passionate, eager and unbridled.”
I must admit, I like these words a lot. I would go so far as to suggest that these words describe some of the core competencies of life, in addition to leadership.
Gradually, Then Suddenly
The book starts with a quote from Ernest Hemingway’s, The Sun Also Rises where one of the characters is asked:
“How did you go bankrupt?”
He answers, “Gradually, then suddenly.”
As you watch the indictments and sentencing of so many world leaders do…
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[…] Establish ground rules for conflict and disagreement. Conflict is a good thing; the healthy, fierce conversations can advance a group’s goals and make for innovations in business. Name calling, deriding, […]
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