Councils

A little while ago, one of the speakers at our Stake Conference offered the following advice on effective councils:

• Be realistic
• Start with / from a question
• How can we handle X better?
• How can we ...?
• Invite people to participate/help solve issue
• Evaluate yourself - what lack I yet?
• Talk about the hard stuff - ask the question and wait (silence is ok)
• Listen, listen, listen
• 2 ears, 1 mouth
• Seek first to understand then to be understood
• Keep it positive
• 5 positives for every 1 negative
• Respond with the smallest hammer possible, don't let it escalate
• PIE = praise, instruction, encouragement
• Persevere - things take time