The Art of Convening
Authentic Engagement in Meetings, Gatherings, and Conversations
By: Craig Neal, Patricia Neal
Published: February 7, 2011
Format: Paperback, 192 pages
ISBN-10: 1605096687
ISBN-13: 978-1605096681
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
"Bringing authentic engagement to meetings, gatherings, and conversations is an essential leadership skill that improves outcomes and brings connection and positive transformation to companies, organizations, clubs, communities, families, and friendships", write convening facilitators and co-founders of Heartland Inc., Craig Neal and Patricia Neal, in their highly engaging and thought provoking book The Art of Convening: Authentic Engagement in Meetings, Gatherings, and Conversations. The authors describe a fresh approach to meetings and gatherings that that changes the basic dynamics to one of open conversations, genuine listening, full inclusion, and authentic engagement.
Craig Neal and Patricia Neal understand the frustration that so many people, companies, and organizations experience with traditional meetings. The authors realize that many people dread meetings and consider them to be a complete waste of time. As a result, Craig and Patricia Neal propose an entirely new set of principles for holding and conducting meetings. Their recommended practices encourage and develop authentic engagement and authentic leadership. Through an emphasis on authentic and genuine interaction between participants, the authors point to a dramatic shift that takes place within the meeting. The attendees feel more energized and connected with one another, leading to more open and honest communication. The result is true commitment to ideas developed though the course of this authentic engagement.
Craig Neal and Patricia Neal (both in photo left) transform the term convening from simply facilitating a meeting, to a concept of gathering people into a safe and renewing space, for the sake of generating authentic engagement. The authors create a form of convening that transcends the ordinary, and often counterproductive form, that meetings have taken all too often in our society. The authors share the people focused practices for to create an inclusive environment where all voices can be heard, opening the forum to creative and innovative solutions. Those new concepts can then receive wholehearted commitment from the participants, as they had a hand in generating them. The convening leadership works to facilitate open and honest communication within the group, resulting in outcomes that are both effective and fulfilling for everyone involved in their creation.
To achieve the authentic engagement necessary to achieve a fully convened meeting, Craig and Patricia Neal recommend the following nine practices that they call the Convening Wheel:
* At the heart of the matter
* Clarifying intent
* The invitation
* Setting context
* Creating the container
* Hearing all of the voices
* Essential conversation
* Creation
* Commitment to action
For me, the power of the book is how Craig and Patricia Neal develop a strong theoretical framework for establishing authentic engagement in meetings and gatherings, combined with the practical blueprint for convening effectively. The authors provide a rare and insightful challenge to the standard meeting format. The concept of convening goes far beyond the usual recommendations for improving meetings, by recognizing that the current meeting model is broken, and requires a complete rebuild. Craig and Patrica change the entire meeting dynamic to one of inclusion, real voices being spoken and then heard, true engagement taking place, and true commitment being the outcome.
Along with revising the structure and form of meetings, the Craig and Patricia Neal also reconsider the role of the leader. The authors provide a unique and effective course of action for building and strengthening leadership skills. For the authors, the transformation is as much an internal journey to self discovery, as it is an external change in the way meetings are convened and facilitated.
I highly recommend the dynamic and wisdom filled book The Art of Convening: Authentic Engagement in Meetings, Gatherings, and Conversations by Craig and Patricia Neal, to anyone seeking an entirely different approach to meeting facilitation that reinvents the interaction between all those in attendance. The authors create an internal energy shift within the leaders, and that transformation is carried over to enrich and engage the participants.
Read the insightful and exceptional book The Art of Convening: Authentic Engagement in Meetings, Gatherings, and Conversations by Craig and Patricia Neal, and discover how the implementation of the principles of the Convening Wheel will not only enhance your own leadership skills, but also transform the inclusion and effectiveness of the people in attendance at your meetings. The result is you will never consider meetings a waste of time, but rather an opportunity to develop and nurture authentic engagement between people.
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