Page 18 - Appreciative Leadership

Introduction xvii

An Exploration of Leadership

In our quest to answer these questions and create a framework for
talking about and teaching Appreciative Leadership, we moved
through three phases: personal observations, appreciative interviews,
and appreciative focus groups.

Personal Observations

We have worked with dozens of leadership teams to help them intro-
duce Appreciative Inquiry to their organizations and communities and

to use it for significant transformation. In the course of doing so, we
began to notice that the leaders who chose Appreciative Inquiry as their
vehicle for positive change had the following four things in common.

1. They were willing to engage with other members of their
organization or community to create a better way of doing
business or living. For example, Bishop William Swing, founder,
and Charles Gibbs, executive director of the United Religions
Initiative, both attended and fully participated in fi ve annual
international planning summits, a year-long series of design
meetings, and multiple regional summits. At each meeting, they
participated enthusiastically in conversations with people of
different faiths, different countries, different ages, and diff erent

cultures. Similarly, leaders of Hunter Douglas Window Fashions
Division, most particularly the president, Rick Pellett, engaged
with the entire 1,000-person workforce, together with key
customers, suppliers, and community members, in a process
of forging a 10-year vision for the company. Finally, admirals
in the U.S. Navy joined with other Navy personnel of all ranks
and tenure during a series of highly inclusive, nonhierarchical
gatherings focused on the development of “leadership at all levels.”
2. They were willing to learn and to change. They did not simply

expect it of others. For example, Rodrigo Loures, CEO of
Nutrimental, SA, the Sisters of Good Shepherd, PMNA, and