In Reading the Room, renowned systems psychologist and family therapist David Kantor applies his theory of structural dynamics to help leaders and coaches understand and improve communication within their teams. He helps readers understand how and why they and their teams communicate differently when faced with low-stakes or high-stakes situations, and he provides a framework to help improve leadership behavior in high-stakes situations. Acknowledging that early personal history and adult relationships have an impact on individual leadership and communication, the author discusses how leaders’ awareness of their personal histories can help them become more effective in their leadership teams. Armed with the information outlined in this groundbreaking book, coaches and leaders will be able to: intervene effectively to produce positive change in both the group’s dynamics and its outcomes, help people in the room alter their behavior to better reach their aspirations, identify the recurring sequences of behavior taking place in a group, understand why differing individual preferences for boundaries and rules affect their conversation, and much more. Written to help readers understand the reasons why leaders and teams get along—or don’t—when they communicate in a group, this book will serve as the leader’s “go-to” resource for insight and perspective in leading their team.

Table of Contents:
Preface ix   One Reading the Room: Introduction and Framework 1 Part One A Complete Language for Understanding Leader Behavior 21 Two Level I: Action Stances: The Four-Player Model 23 Three Level II: Domains of Communication: Affect, Power, and Meaning 49 Four Level III: Systems in Control of Speech 79 Five The Behavioral Profile: A Synthesis of Levels I, II, and III 109 Part Two Identity and Leader Behavior in High Stakes 125 Six Level IV: Stories, Identity, and Structured Behavior 127 Seven Narrative Purpose 151 Eight Leader Behavior in High-Stakes Situations 167 Nine The Heroic Leader in Crisis 193 Ten Sources and Signs of Moral Corruption in Leaders 231 Part Three Models and the Ultimate Leader 263 ELEVEN From Personal Model to Leadership Model 265 TWELVE Building a Leadership Model 281 THIRTEEN A Model for Living 315 FOURTEEN Beyond the Behavioral Profile 339 FIFTEEN A Structural Dynamics Analysis of Barack Obama 361 AFTERWORD Where Structural Dynamics Goes from Here 385 Notes 387 Acknowledgments 399 About the Author 401 Index 403