• Home
  • About
    • Speaker
    • Sarah Lutman
    • Contact
  • AJBlogs
  • ArtsJournal

Speaker

Sarah Lutman amplified

MRI or “Most Respectful Interpretation”

Every Sunday’s NY Times Business section includes a special feature on leadership and management in the form of an interview with a business executive.  It’s called  “Corner Office“  and is written by Adam Bryant.  The interviewees are asked about things like what they look for in a person when hiring, how they approach interviewing job candidates, and how they lead their businesses – from a people perspective.   The column is in a Q and A format, and Mr. Bryant does a great job of selecting leaders with different approaches and philosophies.  It’s one of the first things I read in the paper every week. 

This past Sunday the interview was with Robin Domeniconi of the Elle Group.  She called out a quality she said she needs in the teams she leads — and described it as “MRI or Most Respectful Interpretation of what someone’s saying to you.”   It’s a quality of listening and interaction, a state of mind that enables a group to function at a high level because no time is spent distracted by questioning each other’s motives.   MRI is an interesting variation on “assume positive intent” -  an orientation that frees you to focus on listening to one another and getting on with the work . 

Anyone who is part of a team effort knows that teams operate with unique habits, behaviors, ground rules and values, whether spoken or unspoken.   Team leaders can make work more gratifying, efficient, and productive, or more stressful, ineffective, and deflating, depending on the interpersonal environment they strive to create for people who need to work, together.  Thanks, Robin Domeniconi, for giving us a new shorthand – MRI – for thinking about our human interactions in a fresh way.

Sarah Lutman

I am a Twin Cities-based independent consultant and writer working with cultural, philanthropic and public media organizations across the United States. You can read my entire bio on LinkedIn or read about current clients and projects on the Lutman & Associates web site.

Archives

@lutman_sarah

Tweets by @lutman_sarah

Recent Comments

  • Cathy Day on Farewell Bush Artist Fellowships Program: “I was a Bush Artist Fellow in 1999-2000. I was able to take an unpaid leave from my teaching position…” Apr 19, 17:30
  • Steven Clift on Announcing Hothouse: Exploring new ideas in co-working with the Minneapolis Institute of Arts: “The E-Democracy/Open Twin Cities crew is looking forward to mixing it up. We will be looking for unconference partners as…” Jul 23, 19:13
  • David Haas on Be the orchestra: thinking far beyond putting concerts online: “superlative! thanks (biased of course, but all the same..)” Jul 19, 07:23
  • Susan Chandler on Be the orchestra: thinking far beyond putting concerts online: “What a fantastic project! Thank you so much for sharing all the info about it.” Jul 15, 08:50
  • KCB on Practicing extreme transparency: Why does your “About Us” section have to be so boring?: “Why don’t more US cultural institutions pursue “radical transparency”? I’m not a “leader,” but I have an answer: “openness and…” Jul 9, 05:20

What’s up this week

Check out my most recent piece in
Twin Cities Business Monthly

Return to top of page

an ArtsJournal blog

This blog published under a Creative Commons license