Respect is essential to any conversation that seeks openness and the advantage of an expanded view. They make it almost impossible to create a level playing field where differences are respected and contributions are not limited by expectations associated with role and authority. Even in groups of peers, there will be unspoken roles and authority relationships. It is difficult for us to hold them lightly or leave them at the door. And yet, to the degree that they limit us in speaking or listening openly, they limit our learning and the development of shared meaning.
Roles limit our perceptions of the value of someone s contribution.
For example if you hold someone to her role as director of marketing, you may unconsciously discount her ideas about research and development for a new software package. Where roles and status are suspended, leadership becomes the shared responsibility of the whole group. This can be uncomfortable because it fundamentally alters power relationships in the group and disrupts habitual patterns of reliance on leaders for the success of the conversation. All members are now called upon to listen and respond in ways that support everyone s participation. You can t just space out and let a designated facilitator or team leader be the only one tending to the process.