In the first part of this blog series the setting for the discomfort felt by both the manager (speaker) and the staff member (listener) was explored. Often the discomfort felt by the manager is momentarily acknowledged then put aside as though it shouldn’t happen and it is weak or poor management to feel this way. However, […]
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Holding a conversation for which you believe the content will upset the listener evokes the concept of a difficult conversation. Difficult because the speaker often assumes the news will be difficult for the receiver to hear. And so the conversation also becomes labelled as difficult for the speaker to know how best to frame what […]
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I’ve had the pleasure in recent weeks of travelling from France to Spain, via the Pyrenees, on the back of a Ducati motorbike. It’s been a journey with breathtaking sights and experiences, and while I’ve spent most of the time in holiday mode, I’ve occasionally had some business-related insights and learning experiences that I captured on […]
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Will the real agenda please stand up! One of the biggest contributors to mistrust between a staff member and their manager is the belief by the staff member that the manager has a hidden agenda. The staff member doesn’t know what the manager’s hidden agenda is but they have such a strong suspicion that one exists they […]
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A Harvard Business Review ‘Management tip of the day’ recommended the prioritisation of working and spending time with colleagues that help one to feel fulfilled and to minimise interactions with colleagues one finds depleting. Essentially the article was a call to action to invest in the ‘right relationships’. I fully agree with the focus on investing […]
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Susan David, psychologist and author of the book ‘Emotional Agility’ states that organisations need to get comfortable with uncomfortable emotions in order to provide a psychologically safe workplace in which staff feel safe to bare their emotional truth. She believes that when leaders are comfortable with uncomfortable emotions, they are better equipped to listen to […]
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The workplace is a melting pot of people with different personalities, personal values, past experiences and levels of maturity in self awareness and emotional intelligence. This means that each colleague will react to situations in different ways according to their fears and subconscious protection mechanisms. Unfortunately this means that some of your colleagues will react inappropriately […]
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In an earlier post titled ‘Who Really is the Difficult Conversation For?’ I discussed the four stages for ensuring a clear and factual communication exchange that is both productive and constructive. Such a conversation is not just about conveying information, it is also about using the exchange to build rapport, understanding and professional relationships. In light […]
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“Straightforwardness is the ability to communicate your thoughts in a straightforward manner”. Sounds simple doesn’t it? But what gets in the way of our ability to communicate effectively without being misunderstood? In short – our emotions. Often our concern about the reaction we might receive from the other person is what stops us from communicating […]
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Collaborative Leadership and LOVE? I was recently reading an article about the principles of ‘Collaborative Leadership’. The author suggested that “Principled Leadership’ required a leader to be clear about their own values as well as those of the organisation and be able to articulate them. The author then gave examples of the values that they believed […]
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