In early November, the Fellows from Class XLIV were hosted by classmate Tanneasha Gordon at Deloitte in San Francisco. Since it was just a few days after the election, many emotions and reflections were shared at check-in, which aligned well with the session topic Exploring Productive Tension and Creating Change.
Referencing the podcast On Being with Krista Tippet: Stepping out of “the zombie dance” with Amanda Ripley and Amanda’s book High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out, Fellows shared their responses to the following prompts in small and whole group dialogue:
- What’s your relationship with conflict? What were you taught about conflict growing up? How do you feel about and deal with conflict now?
- What are your experiences with conflict as a leader? How have you shifted high conflict to good conflict or prevented high conflict?
- How have you experienced or fostered productive tension (good conflict) that helped create positive change?
Fellows reflected that we need curiosity and conflict (the productive tension kind of conflict) to truly learn from the election, listen more deeply, and move forward together.
Following the class session, the Fellows enjoyed happy hour together, wrapping up an intense week by experiencing the rejuvenating power of laughter, joy, and trusted relationships!
Akemi Flynn has over 25 years of experience working for multicultural community building and equity in Silicon Valley. Currently, she is the Chief Impact Officer for ALF Silicon Valley and an ALF Insights faculty member. Akemi is an ALF Senior Fellows with Class XXVII.
