Orient
Become curious about what someone already believes, the experience that shaped it, and what matters enough to earn their attention. Find an honest starting point before choosing a direction.
Find your starting point →Orient · Belief
Before you determine the route, establish where you are.
You may know exactly what you want someone to understand. But what matters most to them? What experience taught them to trust, hesitate, or protect what they already have? A useful journey begins by becoming curious about where they are.
Begin with the story already being lived.
When another person does not move toward the future we see, we can mistake their hesitation for a failure to understand. Their response may be rooted in a value they are protecting, a risk they carry, or an experience we have not heard.
Orientation means forming an understanding that remains open to correction. We listen for what matters, separate what we know from what we assume, and ask what an honest next step could be.
The same curiosity belongs to us: am I trying to serve this person, win an argument, or prove that my idea deserves attention?
Try this now
Take a bearing.
Choose one conversation, decision, or relationship. Write a few honest notes in response to these questions.
- What are you moving toward—and what are you hoping to leave behind?
- What do you presently believe about this situation? What experience made that belief credible?
- What does the other person appear to value or protect?
- What have they actually said or done that supports your interpretation?
- What question could help you replace an assumption with discovery?
“I don’t know yet” is a useful answer. It shows you where the next conversation can begin.
The Learning Journey
Orient. Navigate. Ascend.
Understand the belief. Practice the conversation. Notice the meaning your leadership leaves behind. These movements describe needs you may return to throughout a journey. Begin wherever your situation asks you to begin.
Navigate
Bring one real conversation. Work through Interest, Relevance, Vision and Credibility, and Confirmation. Prepare, practice, listen, and refine your next step.
Put the journey into practice →Ascend
Examine what your actions make believable. Notice the stories your decisions, priorities, and responses teach people to carry into their work and relationships.
Explore leadership and culture →Bring the ideas to your audience
A shared question can open a different conversation.
A keynote, seminar, or facilitated conversation can help your group recognize its own belief gaps and begin asking better questions. Louis draws on stories from business, leadership, faith, and family, shaping the conversation around the people in the room.
Explore speaking topics and experience →You don’t need to know the whole route.
Bring what you know, what you hope might become possible, and the question you haven’t quite found words for.