TALKING TOWARD TRUTH

Whether readers are CEOs or parents, leadership can be learned through a model that sparks effective conversations, according to this debut manual. 

After decades of focusing on leadership development, Rogers became intrigued by the fact that some executives get powerful results while other gifted personalities fail to influence others. The author maintains that a well-meaning but mistaken rush to authoritarianism or commiseration, especially in today’s polarized atmosphere, creates obstacles to open exchange and innovation. To counter the myths about personality and workplace culture, Rogers, a senior consultant at a global firm, offers this “study about dialogue in life and business.” In a world of increasing change, the author asserts, it becomes impossible for individuals or even groups to comprehend all the factors that come into play in dialogues and decisions. In addition, the natural human inclination is to “listen” in order to criticize, to gather information in order to bolster one’s already formed conclusion, and to speak in order to defend one’s biases. Rogers proposes a dialogical mindset—his t3 model—that leads to a true exchange, resulting in mutual collaboration and new ideas. This is a results-oriented, transformative dialogue involving inner discussions and conversations with others that breaks through the static concepts of teams and personalities and draws on four “voices”: curiosity, empathy, transparency, and authority. The 10 chapters are accompanied by helpful diagrams of various “dialogic space” variants showing roles and relationships, skill maps, sample conversations, self-surveys, and many real-world examples. Useful endnotes and commentary conclude the book. The strength of the manual is not only in Rogers’ fourfold model, but also his profound understanding of human foibles. He effectively warns against the pitfall of applying his system haphazardly or too quickly. Readers, even with the best of intentions, will likely slip back into their preferred “voices,” so the author spends a great deal of time deftly explaining the model, including the difference between telling oneself “I’m listening” and achieving real, active empathy. In addition, an entire chapter skillfully explores breakdowns in dialogue. Rogers emphasizes that there are no quick answers; this valuable model takes a lot of continuous work. 

An insightful and practical leadership guide that requires careful study.