{"id":7262,"date":"2021-06-28T20:50:43","date_gmt":"2021-06-29T01:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scottcochrane.com\/?p=7262"},"modified":"2021-06-28T20:50:44","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T01:50:44","slug":"how-to-build-healthy-culture-in-the-midst-of-heated-debate-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/28\/how-to-build-healthy-culture-in-the-midst-of-heated-debate-2\/","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 never more crucial than when entering heated waters.<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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

There are plenty of times in leadership when you can anticipate that the water temperatures will be rising:\u00a0<\/p>\n

-When budgets need to be trimmed,<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

-When performances need to be evaluated,<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

-When new opportunities need to be weighed.<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

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

How?<\/p>\n

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

1. Focus on passion, not anger<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

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

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

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

2. Built your case using facts, not rhetoric<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

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

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

Instead, do the rigorous preparation that effective leadership requires. Study. Research. Consult. Lay out your case in lawyerly-like precision. In other words, build your case\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0your culture.<\/p>\n

3. Target the issues, not the people<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

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

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

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

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

Instead, we need leaders who can lead with decisiveness and with kindness.<\/p>\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 heated waters. 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 importance are…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7149,"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":[769,1018,738,478,7,744],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-2","category-decisions","category-effectiveness-2","category-featured","category-leadership","category-team-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7262","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=7262"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7264,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7262\/revisions\/7264"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}