Leading through communication, conversation and dialogue

Abstract

South Africa has gone through a period of unprecedented change in moving from Apartheid to democracy. These sociological changes have also infiltrated organisational life and behaviour – and new approaches to leadership have become vital. In modern organisational life, dialogue and conversation are core processes for building the organisational intelligence and community which enable other business processes to adapt to change and create results. This paper discusses increasingly important leadership issues – such as diversity, teams, collaboration, trust formation, community, individual change, and relationships – in relation to dialogue and transformation. Where trust is high, change is managed more effectively and, where it is low, communication and co‐operation suffer and there is an increasing tendency to resort to power. It is the author’s concluding opinion that change is a phenomenon that occurs within conversation and dialogue! and is therefore a necessary social construct within twenty‐first century organisations.

Citation

April, K.A. (1999), "Leading through communication, conversation and dialogue", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 20 No. 5, pp. 231-242. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437739910287108