{"id":6939,"date":"2020-08-31T20:40:35","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T01:40:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scottcochrane.com\/?p=6939"},"modified":"2020-08-31T20:40:35","modified_gmt":"2020-09-01T01:40:35","slug":"how-to-build-healthy-culture-in-the-midst-of-heated-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/2020\/08\/31\/how-to-build-healthy-culture-in-the-midst-of-heated-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Build Healthy Culture In the Midst Of Heated Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As a leader, your role in building a healthy culture is\nnever more crucial than when entering the waters of debate.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s face it; when there are no contentious issues on the\ntable, it\u2019s relatively easy to forge an atmosphere of collegiality and even warmth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when the stakes are high, when issues of vital\nimportance are on the docket, that\u2019s when your culture-building skills are put\nto the test. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are plenty of times in leadership when the gloves just\nneed to come off;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-When budgets need to be trimmed,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

-When performances need to be evaluated,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

-When new opportunities need to be weighed.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In each of these, and a hundred more similar situations,\nleaders must be able to engage in conversations that are clear, unequivocal,\npotentially harsh, and yet at the same time, culturally enriching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most effective leaders maintain the balance between\nculture-building and truth-telling by rigidly adhering to these 3 principles\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focus on passion, not anger<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When there is a contentious issue on the\ntable, it\u2019s entirely appropriate, even necessary, to summon all the passion you\nhave in presenting your case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just don\u2019t confuse passion with anger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your perspective is being met with\nopposition, let that fuel your deepest passions, but don\u2019t let it drift into anger.\nPassion builds up a culture; anger breaks it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Built your case using facts, not rhetoric<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can always tell when an ill-prepared\nleader is losing their case. If they haven\u2019t lined up their facts they\u2019ll often\nbegin to pepper their talk with clich\u00e9s, worn-out slogans and empty\nsound-bites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are all culture-killers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, do the rigorous preparation that\neffective leadership requires. Study. Research. Consult. Lay out your case in\nlawyerly-like precision. In other words, build your case and<\/em> your\nculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Target the issues, not the people<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ability to debate the most\ncontroversial of issues while offering genuine respect to one\u2019s opponent is\nperhaps the noblest of leadership virtues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, our divided culture is crying out\nfor leaders who will restore such nobility to both public debate, as well as to\norganizational dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maintaining this perspective is a cultural\ngame-changer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world doesn\u2019t need any milquetoast, weak-kneed\nleadership. Nor does it need vicious, acid-tongued bluster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, we need leaders who can lead with decisiveness and\nwith kindness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By following these principles, you can be that leader.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a leader, your role in building a healthy culture is never more crucial than when entering the waters of debate. Let\u2019s face it; when there are no contentious issues on the table, it\u2019s relatively easy to forge an atmosphere of collegiality and even warmth. But when the stakes are high, when issues of vital…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6745,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1015,769,738,478,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-character","category-culture-2","category-effectiveness-2","category-featured","category-leadership"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6939"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6940,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6939\/revisions\/6940"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}