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270 PART 4: THE LEADER AS A RELATIONSHIP BUILDER

IN THE LEAD Aylwin B. Lewis, Sears Holdings Corp.
“Our worst stores are dungeons!” Aylwin Lewis shouts to a group of Kmart man-
agers attending a dinner meeting, sounding for all the world like a Southern Baptist
preacher. “Well, who wants to work in a dungeon? Who wants to shop in a dun-
geon? Who wants to walk into an environment that is so dull and lifeless that it is
sucking the air out of your body?” The managers give their new CEO a standing ova-
tion. They’ve been waiting for someone to recognize how demoralizing their work
environment has become and speak the truth.
Lewis is using his superb communication skills in an effort to overhaul the giant
corporation’s dysfunctional culture and put both Sears and Kmart back on the road
to profitability. A big part of his job is discerning the unspoken feelings of employees

and determining why they are resistant to some of the changes Lewis and chair-
man Edward S. “Eddie” Lampert want to make. In addition, he needs to understand
the company’s problems from the customer’s viewpoint. To accomplish that, Lewis
spends Thursday through Saturday visiting stores, staying about three to four hours at
each one. He’s also changing the discernment of others by requiring that all managers
and headquarters staff spend a day working in a store, and he’s redesigning jobs so
that store employees spend less time in back rooms and more time interacting with
customers. Traditionally, both Sears and Kmart have had insular cultures that are more
inward-looking than focused on the customer. Lewis is hoping the increased interac-
tion among managers, employees, and customers will build a framework for a new,
customer-focused culture.
“Make no mistake, we have to change,” Lewis tells 500 leaders and potential
leaders who participate 40 at a time in a day-long course called “Sowing the Seeds
of Our Culture.” The change won’t be easy—some even say it’s impossible—but
Lewis’s communication skills, including discernment, give him an edge. He’s tapped
into the feelings of store managers and employees by discerning that they are tired
of feeling like losers and want leaders who are willing to tell the truth about the
company’s problems. Now he has to fi nd a way to help them be winners again. 28

Discernment is a critical skill for leaders such as Aylwin Lewis, because it
enables them to tap into the unarticulated, often deep-seated needs, fears, desires,
and hopes of followers and customers. A discerning leader hears the undercur-
Dialogue
Dialogue
active sharing and listening in
active sharing and listening in rents that have yet to emerge. 29
which people explore common
which people explore common
ground and grow to understand
ground and grow to understand
each other and share a world
each other and share a world Dialogue
view
view When a group of people are actively listening to one another and paying attention
to unspoken undercurrents, an amazing type of communication, referred to as
dialogue, occurs. The “roots of dialogue” are dia and logos, which can be thought
of as stream of meaning. In dialogue, people together create a stream of shared
meaning that enables them to understand each other and share a view of the
world. People may start out as polar opposites, but by actively lis-
30
Action Memo
tening and talking authentically to one another, they discover their
common ground, common issues, and common dreams on which
As a leader, you can use dialogue to help
they can build a better future.
people create a shared sense of meaning
Most of us have a tendency to infuse everything we hear with
and purpose. You can enable people to
our own opinions rather than being genuinely open to what others
express their hopes and fears, suspend their
are saying. In addition, traditional business values in the United States
convictions and explore assumptions, and
ground.
and most other Western countries reward people for forcefully asserting
become motivated to search for common
their own ideas and opinions and trying to discredit or contradict oth-
31
ers. But people can engage in dialogue only when they come to a con-
versation free of prejudgments, personal agendas, and “right” answers.