Ready to Lead?
STEP 1: LEARN
STEP 3: REFLECT & CREATE
STEP 2: BRIDGE
Complete the Linden Dialogue Foundations webinar (60-75 min). Learn the framework for bridging division and designing courageous conversations.
More resources below.
STEP 2: BRIDGE
STEP 3: REFLECT & CREATE
STEP 2: BRIDGE
Have one real conversation with your "other"—guided by the 5 Story Questions framework. Practice the skills of bridge-building: staying present, creating space for difference, and listening for shared humanity beyond disagreement.
STEP 3: REFLECT & CREATE
STEP 3: REFLECT & CREATE
STEP 3: REFLECT & CREATE
Create an artistic response—essay, poem, art, film, podcast, any medium—that captures your insights.
STEP 4: SHARE
STEP 4: SHARE
STEP 3: REFLECT & CREATE
Showcase your creative work and reflections to the cohort. Receive peer feedback, celebrate the courage this work required, and contribute to the Linden online archive.
- Email to: thelindencollective@gmail.com
- Subject Line: Name, Title of your Piece
- Body of the email: Contact information & Brief Description of your piece
STEP 5: LEAD
STEP 4: SHARE
STEP 5: LEAD
Facilitate a guided small-group dialogue where participants share personal stories to build understanding across difference.
Complete this capstone experience to earn your Linden Leadership credential in dialogue facilitation and constructive engagement.
Watching good leaders
Leaders set the tone.
One of the most transformative lessons I've learned from observing effective leaders is this: they set the tone for everyone around them.
Years ago, I was part of a thirty-person creative team working under a director we deeply respected. We poured ourselves into an annual production, trusting her vision completely. Opening night arrived, and the reviews were devastating—not merely critiquing our execution, but calling the vision itself shallow and misguided.
The post-mortem meeting was painful. I had witnessed leaders in similar moments become defensive, deflect responsibility, or transform legitimate critique into collective shame.
This leader chose differently.
Her first words: "I'm sorry. I cast a poor vision. I was so focused on execution and polish that I lost sight of what truly mattered." Humility in leadership is magnetic. It creates permission for growth, vulnerability, and honest reckoning. But the expression of humility that continues to resonate most deeply is the leader who genuinely listens.
Leaders establish the emotional climate of every space they inhabit. When you choose curiosity over defensiveness, connection over correction, listening over rigidity—you demonstrate to everyone watching that relationship remains possible even across profound differences. You prove that difficult conversations don't have to fracture us; approached with care and courage, they can transform us.
This is the leadership our divided world needs most.
start a Story Circle
