As I have recently made a key hire for one of my two most senior leaders, I am redirecting my time to work with this "core" of leadership to help re-orient our team against some new strategies.

Council Mode was used as an effective way for us to have formalized dialogue, yet in an open fashion.  With on going traditional "back and forth" discussions, we had jumped from topic to topic.

Using council mode, I asked my leaders to prepare their thoughts, even encouraging them to write them down prior to our meeting.

Then, we went down the list, one by one in council mode.

The effect was a more organized chain of dialogue, which led us to faster, more actionable conclusions and owners.

I like this approach very much as a way for all to provide input, yet forcing an outcome to the dialogue.

Todd