1.5 - About University

In the example here, Lee is a Sr. VP for a large organization. Although busy, Lee still wantsto congratulate Syd for attaining the best ratings on a recent customer service survey. Lee’sassistant, also very rushed, calls Syd and says: “Lee wants to talk with you about sales. Can youcome at 3 p.m. today?”Read the left-hand column from bottom to top (from #1 to #6). Next, do the same with theright-hand column.Syd’sLee’sinferences before the meeting Ladder step inferences during the meeting“I’d better get well-prepared and go in with allthe sales data.”➏Take action“I’d better work this out so we don’t lose Syd’ssales leadership completely.”“I’ll bet Lee is going to go through the roof overthis one.”➎Draw conclusions“Syd wants to take medical leave. I can’t losemy best sales leader!”“Lee must be concerned about our lowCanadian sales figures.”➍Make assumptions“The medical checkup must have gone badly.Syd must be looking for leave.”“Sales? They were good last month except forCanada.”➌Make sense“There’s something wrong here. Syd has beenhaving lots of health problems lately.”“Sales? I just got this month’s report. Lee mustbe calling about that.”➋Select data“Syd should be happy, yet looks very distraught.”“The telephone call was very brief and muchmore curt than normal.”➊An experienceSyd arrives, very nervous, toting many files.H OW TO USE THIS LEADERSHIP TOOL“We live in a world of self-generating beliefs which remain largely untested.”—Peter Senge et al., THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE FIELDBOOKWEB WORKSHEETUse the workspace provided to clarify and test your assumptions and beliefs. Sketch out aLadder of Inference for a miscommunication you were involved with recently. Start with the bottomrung of the ladder, and work up to #6.Briefly describe the miscommunication situation:SECTION 15 TOOLS FOR TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF 463