Page 124 - Appreciative Leadership

The Genius of Inclusion 97

Reflect now on a time when you experienced the
PAUSE
genius of inclusion firsthand. Someone may have

involved you in conversation or decision that
you both cared about and were affected by. Or you may have

done the same for someone else—perhaps a remote or distant
stakeholder. Whatever the situation, this purposeful act of
inclusion yielded truly positive results. Recall the deteails.

Making It Safe to Speak Up

Issuing the invitation is the starting point for inclusion. For many, it rep-

resents a huge step forward, and yet it is not sufficient. Key to unlocking
the positive power of inclusion is the capacity to make it safe for people

to speak up. The more diverse your team, group, workforce, or commu-
nity, the more conscious you must be about creating safe spaces and pro-
cesses for communication, engagement, and full-voice participation.
Keep in mind that when you invite people to participate, they will
expect to have a say. Do not make the mistake of issuing the invitation
and then talking at people. When you ask people to share their ideas,
to join a team, to participate in a meeting, or to be part of a process, be
certain to listen to what they have to say. Take the time to design and
facilitate participatory processes that give everyone an opportunity to
speak and to be heard.

We find it useful to follow a conversational progression that starts
the conversation with one-on-one appreciative interviews, or in a
small group by going around the room and giving everyone a turn
to talk. This establishes the expectation that everyone’s voice will be

heard and valued. From there you can comfortably move to small
group discussions, and then to large group reports, dialogue, and
decision making. This conversational progression works well for all

types of gatherings from staff meetings to project review meetings to

large-scale conferences and strategic planning meetings. An execu-
tive we coached learned to begin her presentations by forming small