Many leaders boast an "open door policy," but is it effective to place the onus solely on your employees to take advantage of that policy and walk through your door? In this Fast Company piece, Jane Hyun, the world's foremost expert on cultural fluency, says that "flexing," or meeting other people in the middle, is a "mutual responsibility" between leaders and employees. In particular, she says that, "when we're trying to attract, motivate, and retain a diverse workforce with varying styles," leaders need to be more alert to "the individual needs and cultural preferences" of their workers rather than merely setting and forgetting one-size-fits-all policies like an "open door." Hyun says that, while understanding and adapting to different norms is a shared responsibility, it is wise for leaders to be proactive: "Since managers tend to have a better handle on the dynamics of the organization, it is helpful when they take initiative and set the tone." And she offers three tips on meeting people in the middle.

1. Take the time to discover the cultural preferences of your team members. "Begin each update or dialogue with curiosity rather than judgement."

2. Incorporate proactive one-on-ones. "A critical component of development is having regular manager-to-employee conversations."

3. Try a different approach for getting your team's input. Some employees "may expect clear direction from you and feel uncomfortable crossing the line to initiate a point of view."

Get the full story here.

"When encountering disagreement, most people jump into 'persuasion mode,' which doesn't leave much room for listening," writes Julia Minson in this Greater Good Magazine piece on how to listen more effectively. Minson says good conversations should offer "an opportunity to learn something new, build a relationship," or have a stimulating moment of connection, but "those goals get forgotten when the urge to persuade sets in." Leaders who are looking to have more productive discussions, especially with those who disagree, should "focus on changing your own behavior," rather than "trying to change how you think or feel about your counterpart." Minson, who has spent years studying how parties in conflict can make each other feel understood, recommends a four step framework represented by the acronym H.E.A.R.

H. - Hedge your claims, "even when you feel very certain about your beliefs."

E. - Emphasize agreement by finding "some common ground even when you disagree on a particular topic."

A. - Acknowledge the opposing perspective by devoting "a few seconds to restating the other person's position," rather than "jumping into your own argument."

R. - Reframe the positive by avoiding "negative and contradictory words," and increasing "your use of positive words to change the tone of the conversation."

Get the full story here.

**For more on this, explore our post from the archives on a three-step process for better leadership interactions.

**For more ways to self-assess your strategic fitness, download our free companion workbook to The Blueprint, which includes self-guided exercises for evaluating your strengths, weaknesses, values, and beliefs.

Knowledge workers, even those who "prioritize self-care and productivity hacks," can often find themselves "busy, drained, and distracted," writes John Hall in this Calendar.com piece on how to fight burnout. He says that overworked leaders should consider a different approach to getting things done called "slow productivity." Slow productivity strives to "create a harmonious work-life balance," and owes its inspiration to the "Slow Food movement" of the 1980s, which was a backlash to "fast food culture." Slow productivity, despite its name, "is not about laziness or working less," but rather it's a philosophy that "challenges the concept of productivity as we know it." So how can you begin to implement the tenets of slow productivity? There are three core principles.

1. Do less, but better. "Focus on what truly matters by doing less. More specifically, slow productivity emphasizes streamlining your to-do list."

2. Work at your natural pace. "We all have different rhythms and energy levels," which we can learn to use to our advantage.

3. Obsess over quality. Prioritize "quality over quantity," and remember that "the key to success is self-belief."

Get the full story, including many tips and tricks for implementing slow productivity, here.

In this new blog resource, Doug Conant speaks to Jessica Foster, the CEO of RHR International, about how tapping into 'centeredness' is the key to being more effective in a chaotic world.

We originally published this roundup of quotes about bravery and leadership in May of 2016 as an homage to Memorial Day and it has since become one of our most popular posts of all time. So we've updated this piece as an "encore" with 6 new bonus quotes from some of the top thought leaders in our network.

In this recent blog resource, Doug Conant speaks with Jane Hyun, the world's premiere expert on cultural fluency, about how to embrace cross-cultural effectiveness and lead a multicultural workforce.

In this new podcast, Doug Conant shares one powerful "golden leadership nugget" that covers a lot of ground in just two minutes.