Adaptive Leadership: The Heifetz Collection (3 Items)

Fonda senses that the group is too tired or too stressed he backs

away a little, allowing for some cooling off time. But he is just as

sensitive on the other end, raising the tension in the room enough

to make it easier for them to address his concerns just to calm him

down, rather than ignore him.

Fonda’s skill was in absorbing and controlling the heat of con-

flict. He increased and reduced the disequilibrium so that it was

high enough to get his fellow jurors to focus on a reality other than

the one they preferred but not so high so as to cause them to break

apart, throw in the towel, and declare a deadlock.

Typically, as it was in the movie for Fonda, ...