David Lee
Preparing Your Mindset for Constructive Conversations
How you prepare yourself for an important conversation largely determines how well that conversation will go. Whether it’s giving feedback, finding out why a direct report isn’t performing as they should, or resolving conflict with a colleague, “getting your head and heart right” before the conversation dramatically increases your ability to engage people in constructive conversations.
Conversely, if you go into a challenging conversation unprepared, or with annoyance, combativeness, or judgment, no “proven” communication technique will work.
In this session, we will discuss practices that enable you to go from “furious to curious,” anxious to confident, and annoyed to compassionate. We will also discuss how to get clear on what you want to accomplish in the conversation, and how to start off the conversation in a way that fosters receptivity and a productive dialogue.
Deb Schuler
Confidently and Skillfully Conducting Constructive Conversations
Once your head and heart are in the right place and you are clear on your communication goal, the next step is to actually have the important conversation, right? Right, but not until you have done a bit more planning and preparation to effectively structure and guide the conversation.
Conversations with your direct reports are just as if not more important than leading meetings and giving presentations, yet too often significantly more time and effort is invested in planning and preparing for these types of communications than having meaningful dialogue with your own people.
In this session, you will be provided with a set of “conversation planner” tools to help you confidently and skillfully initiate, conduct and conclude any type of important conversation you need to have with your direct reports. You will also have the opportunity to practice having a real-life conversation of your choosing in our safe and supportive learning environment.
