TLP260: Humble Inquiry – The Gentle Art of Asking vs. Telling

Ed Schein and Peter Schein, father and son duo, are well-known in the organizational development space and co-founders of the Organizational Culture and Leadership Institute. They’ve written several books together, including two in the Humble Leadership series. In this discussion, Ed and Peter share their thoughts on what leaders need to prepare for in order to build a more resilient culture, future, and organization. The truth is, your organization is always vulnerable, but you can build a more resilient culture.

Key Takeaways

[5:40] The “I alone” leadership model is obsolete.

[8:15] When there’s market disruption, the “I alone” static leadership will fail you.

[8:55] Organizations today need to look more like a human organism and not like a well-oiled machine.

[13:00] Leadership has become a moving target. Leaders used to be well-defined in projects. Now, as you bring in different departments to collaborate, it’s not as clear.

[14:15] Back in the day, Jim had different work, family, and life personas. Now, people realize that you can’t truly be “one persona.”

[17:50] When discovering what exactly you have to do as a leader in an organization, it almost always means you have to talk to your direct reports, gather information, and act accordingly.

[22:50] You can’t redesign culture. You need to use your culture to aid a new change, but it does not work the other way around.

[24:50] In a young company, leadership creates culture. In an old company, culture creates leadership.

[25:45] Culture is a pattern of shared assumptions. You have culture from the type of history you’ve built.

[30:55] When it comes to culture, you have to break it down to see where the disconnects are.

[33:45] Ed expands on his statement that questions are a gentle art of asking, instead of telling.

[38:15] Peter shares how you can create a humble inquiry within your team.

[41:15] The truth is, your organization is always vulnerable. However, you can embrace this and turn it into a power.

[45:30] Peter shares an example of what humble inquiry looks like.

[47:45] The leader of the future needs to have a much broader perspective of cultures and the world.

The Leadership Podcast is sponsored by W.S. Darley & Company.

Founded in 1908, Darley remains a family owned and operated business, providing the highest quality equipment solutions to our country’s warfighters and firefighters.

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