FROM THE VAULT - Managing Tension

Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast

Andy Stanley

Business

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 May 2022

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 2017, I discussed why a certain amount of tension is necessary for a healthy organization. Leaders must learn to recognize the difference between “conflicts that need to be resolved” versus “tensions that need to be managed.” In 2022, this is still just as important.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast, a conversation designed to help leaders
0:09.3	go further faster. On today's podcast, we'll talk about maintaining a healthy level of
0:14.5	tension in your organization. Andy, today's topic is one that we first explored about four
0:20.0	years ago, and since then it's really become part of the fabric of our organization.
0:24.4	I guess the first time I heard you discuss it was in a talk you called the opposable leader.
0:29.2	I originally named this talk the opposable leader in reference to our opposable thumb,
0:33.3	the thing that sets us off, that sets primates apart from the rest of the animal kingdom.
0:37.7	And essentially the opposable thumb allows us to exert just the right amount of pressure
0:42.7	to do things that again the rest of the animal kingdom can't do. I can pick up a contact lens
0:48.4	with my thumb and forefinger, or I can pick up a baseball. And again that pressure or that
0:54.0	tension allows me to be productive in ways that again sets us apart. And so I think this is a great
0:59.9	word picture for this whole idea of managing tension, understanding the importance of tension,
1:04.6	because when you pick something up with your thumb and the rest of your hand you are creating
1:09.6	just the right amount of tension to be productive. And the right amount of tension, the proper
1:14.5	tension is absolutely necessary for productivity. But in a lot of organizations or with certain
1:21.3	personalities the goal seems to be to get rid of all the tension. So that's why we're talking
1:25.2	about this today. And as you mentioned we first introduced this terminology into our organization
1:29.7	about four years ago. And I'm glad we're talking about it again because I think you would agree,
1:33.3	it's amazing how often this terminology around tensions to manage versus problems to solve.
1:39.6	This has become so much a part of our organization and organizational conversation. And we are seeing
1:45.1	now the advantage of introducing that kind of language. And my guess is that in every leadership
1:49.7	team meeting this comes up at some point. And again it created a category for us and I think
	...

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