Educational and Benchmarking Seminars
Thursday November 12, 2009
Susquehanna Room, Myer Hall
8:15 to 11:30am
7 Elizabethtown College
“The Power of Participatory Leadership: Tools for Each Generation”
CFB members couldn’t say enough good things about our November 12 interactive presentation on participatory leadership and communication by Dr. Stephen R. Treat*, senior therapist at the Council for Relationships of Philadelphia.
- “Very insightful ideas and thoughts.”
- “Gave me insight into both business and personal relationships.”
- “It covered very real issues and how to deal with them.”
- “Reinforced my direction of peer/association interaction. Great energy!”
- “Extremely important subject, absolutely relevant. Thanks!”
Treat encouraged leaders at every level within an organization to build a participatory culture in which team members have a voice in decisions that effect their lives and ultimately, that they feel their voice is being heard.
It’s Treat’s contention that there is a significant difference between authority and power: Authority is in hierarchy or position whereas as power is in the quality of the relationships. Treat demonstrated leaders can actually build more power by giving it away.
He also emphasized that asking questions is an effective and underutilized relationship tool and asked those in attendance to consider whether their leadership modes were reactive or responsive. Reactive modes are responses to vulnerability and involve histrionics. Responsive mode indicates a true desire to understand. For more information, see the slides below.
Slides from Dr. Treat’s presentation (PDF)
*Stephen R. Treat, DMin, LMFT, Senior Therapist, Director, & CEO
The Council for Relationships is Philadelphia’s preeminent non-profit counseling, education and research center, and the nation’s oldest, founded in 1932.

