She replied, "Well one of my colleagues who's a social historian Joseph Featherstone describes school as 'society's theater,' the place where we see most visibly and transparently the larger social forces that are going on.

"How is democracy enacted? How is immigration enacted? How is multiculturalism enacted? And taking that as a broader metaphor, I see this tiny drama of the parent/teacher conference a place where the larger dynamics of race and class and culture and gender and educational background and immigrant status get mirrored and reflected. So, in lots of ways, if we look at this tiny drama, we see saturated in it these extraordinary other forces in our society. It's a great place to look."

How can you be sure that your conference learnings will make it back to the office with you? Consider bringing some of your office into the conference!

Pegasus Conference veteran Jen Hunter will once again lead a team of experienced consultants offering in-conference coaching to intact teams attending together. At no extra charge, this program enables you to define your shared learning goals, stay focused during the conference, and start applying new ideas even before you return to work.

Beginning with an orientation session Sunday evening, your team will be paired with a coach who will help you establish your team's conference learning plan and post-conference goals. Then, throughout the event, you will reconvene as a group, if desired, to check your progress, re-evaluate your learning plan, and share your learnings. Finally, at the end of the conference, you have the opportunity meet together and design a practical take- home plan for implementing your new skills and identifying next steps.

Teams who have participated in the past have appreciated the opportunity to take the conceptual underpinnings of the conference and put them into practice immediately.

Significant team discounts are available for groups of 4 or more. Review team options on the conference website, send us an email with your questions, or call 1-800-272- 0945 to learn more about the teams program at this year's Pegasus Conference.

Individual conference registrations are just $1195 through April 18! (a savings of $500 off the full conference price). Register now to secure your seat at these low rates.

Recently, I was coaching a CEO who was lamenting the amount of time she was spending "selling" major decisions to her executive team and then motivating them to implement her initiatives.

As we began to unpack her frustration, I discovered that she was finding it easier to make difficult strategic decisions alone, without formal input from her senior team. When quizzed about making such decisions in isolation, she replied that involving others usually resulted in stubborn arguments that divided her team with clear winners and losers. She felt that winning the argument had actually become more important to some than doing what was best for the company.

Because of her engaging personality, she found it easier to make the rounds of her executive team, explaining and justifying her decisions to get everyone on board. However, she had lost perspective on the fact that often the best decisions are made when all points of view can be engaged, examined, and discussed in an environment that removes fear and anger from the conversation and replaces them with curiosity and empathy.

Arguments are helpful; they serve to pull people together and get them moving in the same direction. For this CEO, we staged a debate around a strategic decision that she was about to make. But we threw in a few twists that kept the discussions lively, productive, and fun. We assigned executives to each side of the issue, based upon their knowledge and passion for the opposing argument. In place of negative emotions and personal attacks we heard humor, creativity, and, some really great thinking on both sides.