I had the pleasure of working with the four incredible founders of Seattle Center For Peace ( http://seattlecenterforpeace.org/ ) yesterday on their business plan. It was a delight to work with people that use non-violent communication in their interactions. Conversations were lively and passionate, each deliberating strongly for her view and yet there was a level of respect that was palpable. We made great progress in their business plan. This is an organization to watch over the coming year.
Working with them reminded me of one of my most closely held beliefs: the leader(s) of an organization strongly impact every facet of the organization. The leader(s) truly establish the culture of a company by the way they do everything. The way leaders communicate is one very apparent aspect. Take Microsoft where the cultural norm is to be called out from an intelligent viewpoint on anything you present. Where did you get your statistics? Is it the most reliable source? Why did you select one source over another? Or take Real Networks where the tone is agressively confrontational. There the norm is a degrading tone where humiliation is the order of the day.
And of course, things roll down hill. So VP's emulate their CEO and Directors emulate their VP's and so it goes. It's good food for thought for up and coming leaders.
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