Difficult Conversations: A Good Lesson for the Receiver
Much of the literature about difficult conversations is written from the perspective of the person giving feedback or directions. It’s equally important to be a good receiver of information. Being willing to listen intently, understand another persons’ perspective and be willing to accept your responsibility in any given situation will enhance your own self-knowledge, expand [...]
Meeting Facilitation: To Meet or Not To Meet
A complaint I hear often, as I am sure you do, is that there are too many meetings. People feel overwhelmed by number of meetings they attend to say nothing of attending meetings that have no real outcomes. It almost feels like a constant refrain. Here’s an example of how to handle some of these [...]
Conversation Management Techniques
As a meeting manager one of your key jobs is to keep the group on track. If you have been tracking the conversation, including the topics and where the group is in the PowerfulWork conversation model (see my earlier blog post), you can use any of the following tools to reorient a group that appears [...]
What Are We Fighting About?
The grief is searing and seemingly boundless. In an instant, the world changed. Two boys, 24 and 20, on route home with their dog, their lives stretching endlessly ahead of them. They are happy, healthy—full of energy, aspirations and love. Their lives end in what seems to the rest of us as a flash. One [...]
Conflict Training 101: “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall”
I had an experience in the realm of conflict training that I am reluctant to write about, but I think it’s worth sharing. I had been looking for particular kind of vendor. I interviewed several companies and got a few proposals. In the end, I engaged a woman whose skills seemed to fit my needs [...]
Deer in the Headlights: Navigating Difficult Conversations
This week a woman approached me and said, “I often get in a situation with co-workers in which they say something that leaves me speechless, and I feel like a deer in the headlights. I don’t have a response. What do I do?” Her experience is a common one. We often get caught off guard [...]
How to Have a Difficult Conversation
As is my habit—and one I will not curtail no matter how hard we are hit by a recession—I went to get my nails done recently. Getting a manicure is often so relaxing I want to sleep. This day, however, was not to be one of those soothing hours. One of the hairdressers, whom I [...]
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