Difficult Conversations

What you'll learn

• Explain why people avoid difficult conversations and what avoidance costs teams, safety and trust
• Prepare for a hard conversation by separating observable facts from the story you tell yourself about them
• Open a difficult conversation with facts and shared purpose, without triggering defensiveness
• Listen and keep the exchange productive while emotions run high, keeping the issue — not the person — in focus
• Close with specific, agreed next steps and follow up so the conversation changes something
• Apply the method to performance concerns, pushing back on an unsafe instruction, and friction with a peer

Curriculum

Progress through each competency level in order.