Journeys Toward Transformation - Part II
By: Joanna M. Murray

I. Moving From the Inner Realm to the Outer Realm:

We begin with stories that illustrate the impact of alignment between the personal values and beliefs and the leaders' roles and responsibilities.

"Reading Reality Truthfully is a key principle I continue to implement as a professional in the insurance industry. Given the entire conversation about health care reform our company is asking significant questions. As a country we are making very broad assumptions when we talk about what reform actually means. We can all imagine the ideal, but getting from where we are to the ideal is a very complicated issue.  It's my responsibility to make sure that my organization has long-term viability. Blue Cross and Blue Shield, like others including Aetna, Cigna, and United Health Care, has been a traditional insurer for 70 years; we process and pay claims, develop benefit options, and establish networks. However, the questions before us now are more complex: Do the communities in our state need a traditional insurer? Can we transform our practice to meet the current times? 

I believe it is more than taking care of insurance needs; it's about helping our clients improve the overall well being and productivity of their employees. I don't think we need any more traditional insurers, but if we are totally committed to making people personally and professionally productive, then we have a future.  In shifting our team toward this larger perspective I am managing a very big gap between where we've been and where we're going. The future doesn't belong to what has been.  We now have to change our image of what our work is all about and our vision of what we are doing.  This is the way I've come to apply The Integrated Work of Leadership^©.  My understanding of the practice of reading reality truthfully directly applies to my leadership responsibilities. I am more comfortable in identifying and living in the gap.  With a deeper level of self-knowledge comes the capacity to lead others through change with greater confidence." (Mark Burzynski, Blue Cross and Blue Shield)

Read the complete article to find out more about the process of Inner Work

Upcoming Events:

Ki ThoughtBridge Webinar, Managing Recurring Negotiation Headaches, October 21st at 1pm EDT

Katherine Tyler Scott, International Leadership Association (ILA), November 11-13, Prague

Irma Tyler-Wood, Institute of Management Studies, Effective Conflict Resolution
 - November 18, Toronto, Canada 
 - December 4, Washington, DC
 - December 9, Atlanta, GA
 - December 10, Dallas, TX

Quotable Quotes

"We journey inward to know ourselves so we may take better charge of our lives, act more consciously, and be less motivated and driven by unconscious needs, desires, and powers." 
 - William A. Miller

"If your emotional abilities aren't in hand, if you don't have self-awareness, if you are not able to manage your distressing emotions, if you can't have empathy and have effective relationships, then no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very far." 
 - Daniel Goleman

"Making your unknown known is the important thing." 
 -  Georgia O'Keefe

"Without some grasp of the meaning of their relationship to the whole, it is not easy for individuals to retain a vivid sense of their own capacity to act as individuals, a sureness of their own dignity and an awareness of their roles and responsibilities." 
 - John Gardner

Negotiation Resources

Negotiation is any attempt to influence or persuade someone else to do something that you want.

- Roger Fisher, Professor Emeritus, The Harvard Negotiation Project, Author, Getting To Yes

Dozens of times every day leaders engage in negotiation. From relatively simple persuasions like getting your family to eat well and off to a great start each morning, to complex, multi-party negotiations with colleagues and clients regarding roles, responsibilities, contracts, personnel decisions, budgets, and critical long term strategy. 

At Ki ThoughtBridge as part of our Integrated Approach to Leadership Development^© we coach and train our clients on adaptive skills for successful negotiation using tools developed at the Harvard Negotiation Project, which our founding partner, Irma Tyler-Wood helped to test and refine in her work with Roger Fisher. The Seven Element Model^© for Negotiation offers an elegant, step-by-step approach to conducting interest-based negotiations, which leaders can incorporate in every type of negotiation or process of conflict resolution. We apply the model in our work with private, public and philanthropic institutions across the country and globally.

This fall we are offering a series of targeted webinars to assist leaders in refining their negotiation skills. Each session focuses on a specific negotiation challenge by providing tools, strategies and practical hands-on advice for effectively navigating your most important negotiations. The next three sessions will address such challenges as managing recurring negotiation headaches, dealing effectively with multi-party negotiations, and how to strategically influence the toughest negotiators.  Click here for more information and to build practical skills you'll use every day.

"I thought the content, the way it was covered, and the format were all excellent.
While the speaker indicated it was difficult to "read the audience" via webinar,
I think she did a great job in her pace and explanations."
Susan Neadle, Director, Applied Optical Products.
(September Webinar Participant)

Suggested Readings:

Integrity: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality, Henry Cloud, Harper Collins, New York, NY 2006

Artful Leadership: Awakening the Commons of the Imagination, Michael Jones, Pianoscapes, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, 2006

The Integrated Work of Leadership: A Journey of Transformation, Katherine Tyler Scott, Ki ThoughtBridge, 2009

Here's What You Will Find in the December Issue of eBridge:

In our December issue of eBridge the Ki ThoughtBridge Team will offer Lessons on Leadership drawn from our experiences in working with a wide range of clients. As the tumultuous year of 2009 closes we will reflect on lessons drawn from adversity and challenge, change and transition and will offer insights for adaptive leadership.