While I was mentoring a young woman she shared with me a wonderful approach to making well rounded and grounded decisions and with her permission I am sharing it with you. She described her process of chairing her personal Board Meeting.
To do this she needs to invite all voices and ensure they are present. We all have these internal voices that guide us we are just not always conscious of them and very disciplined in the way we use them. So this process calls them to account and invites them in to share their views. It ensures we give validity to each of our voices.
Now you may not have the same voices as me – when I chair my Board Meeting the voices I invite and want present:
1. Logic
2. Reason
3. Emotion/feelings
4. My inner playful and inventive child
5. My wise and experienced parent
6. Gut instinct
7. Dreams and aspirations
8. History and experience.
Each are called to sit at the Board Meeting and encouraged to share their views, without being attacked, without having to justify and without feeling the need to defend their position. It is their view and it is completely valid.
The Chair listens to all views and then resolves the conflict by collaboratively making the final decision. I plan to use my Conflict Mapping Approach to identify the needs, concerns and feelings of each voice. In this way I bring all views to account and make a grounded and well thought out decision.
I love this concept and will certainly be putting it into practice!
