2013 MBAA/NAMS presentation, "Active Listening and Vulnerable Collaboration as Foundational Elements in the Education for Sustainability." Martha Cook, Malone University; Maria Lai-Ling Lam, Malone University; and Adam Klemann, Malone University

1. Active Listening and Vulnerable
Collaboration as Foundational Elements in
the Education of Sustainability
Martha J. B. Cook (Ed.D.)
Maria Lai-ling Lam (Ph.D.)
Adam Klemann (M.Sc.)
North American Management Society
Conference, March 1, 2013

2. Objectives
1.To share the development of skills of
active listening and vulnerable
collaboration in various
communication contexts in the
journey of corporate sustainability.
2. To encourage management
educators to cultivate the virtues of
active listening and vulnerable
collaboration in the education of
sustainability.

3. Definitions
Sustainability is to educate our students to know how to
build on the best of the past, adapt and meld it with the
present and sustain it for the future.
Active listening is best defined as the speaker with a
vocal or written message, the listener verifying or
paraphrasing the message, and the speaker either agreeing
with the meaning of the message or writing the message
with deeper clarification.
Vulnerable collaboration is willing to give up control
and accept new ideas which enable participants to move
toward a positive direction.

4. Our beliefs
• Historically, humans can develop the capacity of active
listening and vulnerable collaborating in various
contexts.
• Presently, students need to develop their capacities of
self-discipline to pace, manage, and reflect information.
• Ideally, learners need to be more reflective about their
experiences of communication in various contexts and
be more flexible in the process of listening and
collaborating.
! !
• Time matters.
• Virtues formed.

5. Our Practices
• Practicing diversified experiences with
active writing and listening
• Integrating experiential learning
• Introducing to educators through
technology

6. A Graduate Student’s feedback
“Now that our class has ended, I want to
extend my thanks for your work in the class. It
was a difficult class that required significant
effort, but the hardest part for me was choosing
between letting the learning change my life or
just getting through the material and
assignments and moving on. I decided to open
myself to learning what God was teaching me
and acknowledged that I had unsustainable
areas in my life that needed to change. I have
begun to change and realize that the changes
need to be for the rest of my life.”

7. Conclusion
• 1. To know how to preserve the good
practices of active listening and vulnerable
collaboration in our civilization.
• 2. To demand more energy and skills in
the context of advanced communication
tools.
• 3. To keep practicing the skills of being
vulnerable in active listening and the
collaborating process.

8. Discussion
Contact emails:
Maria Lam (mlam@malone.edu);
Martha Cook (mcook@malone.edu);
Adam Klemann (aklemann@malone.edu)