Communicating Up

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Communicating Up!

• Instructor
• Gail Griffith
• gailg_at_carr.org
• An Infopeople Workshop
• Spring 2008

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This Workshop Is Brought to You By the Infopeople
Project
Infopeople is a federally-funded grant project
supported by the California State Library. It
provides a wide variety of training to California
libraries. Infopeople workshops are offered
around the state and are open registration on a
first-come, first-served basis. For a complete
list of workshops, and for other information
about the project, go to the Infopeople website
at infopeople.org.
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Introductions

• Name
• Library
• Position
• Who were you thinking of when you signed up for
  this workshop? (What positions, how many levels
  up? Not individuals names!)

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Workshop Overview

• Leader-follower relationship
• power dynamics
• follower styles
• Building your personal credibility
• Building trust and relationships with leaders
• advocacy and inquiry skills
• respecting and changing the culture
• Having (and surviving!) difficult conversations
  with leaders

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Ground Rules

• Whats said here stays here
• Communicate with sensitivity
• Other?

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The Leader-Follower Relationship
Leader
Mission
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Types of Power

• Position
• Personal or relationship
• Expert or knowledge
• Other?

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Question for the Group

• What do you have the power to do, and where does
  that power come from?

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Finite or Infinite?

• Power is Finite
• If I have more, you have less
• Power over
• Silos, turf battles
• Zero-sum, win-lose

• Power is Infinite
• Sustainable resource
• Power with
• Engine that makes the organization run
• Win-win

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Follower Styles
Individualist high challenge, low support
Partner high challenge, high support
Challenge
Implementer low challenge, high support
Resource low challenge, low support
Support
Ira Chaleff, The Courageous Follower
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Question for the Group

• Thinking about the people who use power well in
  your organization, which follower style(s) do you
  most often see them use? What does that get them?

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Building Your Personal Credibility

• Self-management
• personal growth, organization
• energy management and intensity level
• meet commitments
• act as if
• Taking initiative
• based on the common purpose
• how can we vs. we cant
• ask for help, mentoring
• widen your network
• Respecting the culture while shaping it
• credit whats good
• link your vision and values

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Question for the Group

• Based on your experience and on what you believe
  your leaders respect, how would you advise
  someone to act in order to build credibility with
  your organizations leadership?

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Exercise 3 Practical Strategies for Building
Personal Credibility

• Do more of this
• Deliver what you promise
• Suggest solutions
• Communicate using the right medium
• Slow down
• Respect the leaders time constraintsheadlining
• Ask for feedback and act on it
• Check your own behaviors
• What else?

• Beware of this
• Mannerisms and body language that get in the way
  of the message
• Inviting leaders to solve your problems for you
• What else?

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Lunch
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Building Trust and Relationships with
LeadersLearning Conversations
Lecturing Dictating Arguing high advocacy, low
inquiry
Learning through Dialogue high inquiry, high
advocacy
Advocacy
Seeking to Understand Interrogating low advocacy,
high inquiry
Observing Withdrawing low advocacy, low inquiry
Inquiry
Stone, Patton, Heen, Difficult Conversations
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Does It Look Familiar?
Individualist Lecturing, Dictating Arguing high
advocacy, low inquiry high challenge, low support
Partner Learning through Dialogue high inquiry,
high advocacy high challenge, high support
Advocacy Challenge
Resource Observing Withdrawing low advocacy, low
inquiry low challenge, low support
Implementer Seeking to Understand Interrogating lo
w advocacy, high inquiry low challenge, high
support
Inquiry Support
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Learning Conversations

• Inquiry
• Open-ended questions
• The three whys
• Please tell me more

• Advocacy
• My perspective is..
• Im basing this view on
• Heres what Ive observed

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Ladder of Inference
Your story
Their story
We draw a conclusion
They draw a conclusion
They interpret that information
We interpret that information
We focus on certain information
They focus on certain information
Based on the work of Chris Argyris and Peter Senge
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Its Not Just About Conversation

• Improving processes
• Timing and readiness
• How and when to break the rules
• How and when to go around the leader
• Using your access to the leader

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Having (and Surviving!) Difficult Conversations
with Leaders

• Not for Amateurs
• Challenging the leader
• Giving direct feedback
• Risks of doing nothing or doing something poorly

• Try This
• Giving indirect feedback
• use to engage leaders, not alarm them
• open-ended questions

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Cycle of Advocacy and Inquiry
Check your understanding. Have I got it?
Inquire into their view Listen to learn
Inquireagain Listenagain
Advocate your view. Explain conclusion, data,
and reasoning.
They react (badly) But
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Finally.

• This isnt a workshop about pathology, but what
  if?
• making ethical choices
• finding resources to help

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People have always struggled with how to be
heard

• I think that the aim of the perfect courtier is
  so to win for himself the favor and mind of the
  prince whom he serves that he may be able to tell
  him, and always will tell him, the truth about
  everything he needs to know, without fear or risk
  of displeasing him and that when he sees the
  mind of his prince inclined to a wrong action, he
  may dare to oppose him and in a gentle manner
  avail himself of the favor acquired by his good
  accomplishments, so as to dissuade him of every
  evil intent and bring him to the path of virtue.
• --Baldesar Castiglione
• Book of the Courtier, 1516