ILead recently invited Stuart Knight for a special Leadership Lab on Four Conversations for Success. Anchoring his talk on the need for us to connect more deeply, he left the audience with four conversations for success: onion conversations to peel back the layers, asking “why” to let people tell their stories, asking bold questions to break through social norms, and to have positive conversations with ourselves on a regular basis. Along with those, he provided helpful tips on how to make powerful conversations part of our everyday lives. Here is one student’s story on how these small changes have made a big impact:
The Leadership Lab with Stuart Knight was extremely engaging and inspiring. His references to relationships and job hunting were two things that university students like myself could definitely relate to. He also challenged us to talk to one new person every day to practice the art of conversation. I decided to take on this challenge right after the workshop. After a long day at school, I normally put my earbuds in my ears, blasts pop music and keeps my head down getting lost in my own thoughts while walking home. But that day, I was walking home from the session, huddled under my umbrella in the rain and I noticed a young woman walking beside me without an umbrella. Taking Stuart’s advice, I stopped to chat with her and offered to share my umbrella. Walking up St. George, I managed to engage in a meaningful discussion where I learned that we have a mutual friend with whom I went to high school. This conversation left me feeling bright and energized and brought me to reconnect with that high school friend after not seeing each other for over a year. We went for coffee five days later to catch up and have been continually messaging back and forth since then. I’m so glad I took on this challenge and have continued to do so day to day.
-Katie Dritsas (ChemE 1T6 + 1, ILead’s Student Leadership Facilitator)