Great writer in leadership

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this element of assessment is to practice a deeper level of listening and dialogue. Stakeholder interviews are conversations an individual conducts with his or her key stakeholder: customers, bosses, subordinates or peers both within and outside the organization. The interviews allow you to step into the shoes of your interviewees and see your role through the eyes of these stakeholders. The purpose of a stakeholder dialogue interview is to see your work from the perspective of your stakeholders. It answers the questions: What do my stakeholders want from me? What do they need me for? Intended outcomes for this assignment include:

• Enhanced clarity about how my work matters from the viewpoint of my stakeholders.
• An understanding of how my stakeholders assess the value that I create for them.
• Ideas for quickly improving a situation.
• The identification of barriers and roadblocks that need to be removed.
• A better and deeper personal relationship with my key stakeholders.

BACKGROUND:

We will discuss this project and you can explore relevant concepts and skills to support you in this assignment at: www.presencing.com/tool/u-browser.

LOGISTICS:

People & Places - Stakeholder interviews work best face-to-face. If in-person interviews are not possible, conduct them by phone. In terms of time, you should allocate the following:

o 30-45 minutes for a phone interview
o 30-90 minutes for a face-to-face interview
o Both figures are estimates and need to be adjusted to the specific context
o Prepare for an additional 30 minutes before the interview

Materials - Use the interview guideline (questionnaire), but feel free to deviate where necessary. Paper and pen to take notes.

Task - You are required to interview three stakeholders relevant to your work. If you have someone in the organization that is integral to your success and also challenging for you, think about including them.

Step 1 - Plan the interviews

• Identify the stakeholders who are relevant to your current situation or challenge/opportunity.
• Define/revise questions to adjust to the specific context. Schedule appointments.
• Decide whether to send the questions to the interviewee in advance.

Sample questionnaire:

1. What is your most important objective, and how can I help you realize it? (What do you need me for?)
2. What criteria do you use to assess whether my contribution to your work has been successful?
3. If I were able to change two things in my area of responsibility within the next six months, what two things would create the most value and benefit for you?
4. What barriers in the current systems or other issues have made it difficult for people in my role to meet your expectations?

Step 2 - Prepare yourself to be ‘present'

There is a book reserved (with a 4 hour limit) at the Ralph Besse Library. Read p. 13-15, 213-234) in advance of your interviews (FYI, p. 177-186 are required for submission of final paper).The book is entitled: Presence: An Exploration of Profound Change in People, Organizations, and Society, (Senge, P., Scharmer, O., Jaworski, J., Flowers, B., 2005).

• Before you meet the interviewee allow for some quiet preparation or silence.

• For example, take 20-30 minutes prior to an interview to relax and anticipate the conversation with an open mind and open heart.

Step 3 - Practice ‘presencing' and mindfulness

• During the interview, listen with your mind and heart wide open, take notes and follow the principles below:

• Ask questions spontaneously: Feel free to deviate from your questionnaire if important questions occur to you. The questionnaire is designed to serve you and your work-not the other way around.

• Create transparency and trust about the purpose and the process of the interview; establish a personal connection early on. Suspend your voice of judgement (VOJ) to see the situation through the eyes of your interviewee. What matters at this point is not whether you agree with what your interviewee is telling you. What matters now is that you learn to see the situation through the eyes of your stakeholder. Access your ignorance (access your open mind): As the conversation unfolds, pay attention to and trust the questions that occur to you; don't be afraid to ask simple questions or questions you think may reveal a lack of some basic knowledge. Access your appreciative listening (access your open heart): Connect to your interviewee with your mind and heart wide open; thoroughly appreciate and enjoy the story that you hear unfolding; put yourself in your interviewee's shoes. Access your listening from the future field (access your open will): Try to focus on the best future possibility for your interviewee that you feel is wanting to emerge. What might that best possible future look like? Leverage the power of presence and silence: One of the most effective interventions as an interviewer is to be fully present with the interviewee and the current situation-and not to interrupt a brief moment of silence. Moments of silence can serve as important trigger points for deepening the reflective level of a conversation. More often than not, these opportunities go unused because the interviewer feels compelled to jump in and ask the next question. Stay with the opening of the NOW.

Step 4 - Reflect on the interview. Right after the interview, take time to write about your key insights and capture your key thoughts

Step 5 - Close the feedback loop. Right after each interview, send a thank-you note to your interviewee (within 12 hours).

DELIVERABLES:

You are required to submit an individual reflection (2-3 pages double spaced) distilling the themes and insights you have gained from your stakeholder interviews. However, you should include the notes that you took after each interview and the thank you note sent as appendices and refer to them in the reflections as appropriate.