Dialogic Roles
Isaacs (1999) identified four fluid roles that all of us are encouraged to learn in order to be great at dialogue. The roles are “mover”, “opposer”, “lover”, and “bystander”. It is important, in effective dialogue, that people are supported to enhance their capacities to flow between all of these roles as appropriate. It is only when all four roles are in even tension that a dialogue is whole.
We have some in our communities and organizations who are the “movers and shakers” and they may prefer to always lead from this role and diminish the significance of the other roles in their leadership. There are others who have adapted to existing leadership dynamics and established a firm footing as the opposer who consistently challenges convention, but does not fluidly assume the other roles as well. This is the person who becomes typecast as the “cynic” and in particularly problematic organizational cultures and with lack of self-care, becomes a “frustrated cynic”.
The “lover” is the person who adopts a leadership support posture and pays attention to what they perceive to be plausible or good enough ideas proposed by leadership and strongly endorse these views in order to build momentum behind the leader’s ideas.
This form of loving can often be synonymous with loyalty, and it is not healthy in organizations or communities for people to become frozen in this role. The bystander, in health, is a critical role of appreciative listening that supports everyone in suspending judgment and getting all perspectives equally aired. In poor health, the bystander is a person frozen in an outsider role who pushes for inter-subjective understanding, but whose practical example of listening to the whole is persistently peripheralized.
We have some in our communities and organizations who are the “movers and shakers” and they may prefer to always lead from this role and diminish the significance of the other roles in their leadership. There are others who have adapted to existing leadership dynamics and established a firm footing as the opposer who consistently challenges convention, but does not fluidly assume the other roles as well. This is the person who becomes typecast as the “cynic” and in particularly problematic organizational cultures and with lack of self-care, becomes a “frustrated cynic”.
The “lover” is the person who adopts a leadership support posture and pays attention to what they perceive to be plausible or good enough ideas proposed by leadership and strongly endorse these views in order to build momentum behind the leader’s ideas.
This form of loving can often be synonymous with loyalty, and it is not healthy in organizations or communities for people to become frozen in this role. The bystander, in health, is a critical role of appreciative listening that supports everyone in suspending judgment and getting all perspectives equally aired. In poor health, the bystander is a person frozen in an outsider role who pushes for inter-subjective understanding, but whose practical example of listening to the whole is persistently peripheralized.
