A forward looking way to deal with difficult conversations in your leadership team …
Read more thoughts on the art of communicating week-daily at https://michaelgerharz.com/blog
Transcript
Welcome back to
“Irresistible Communication”.
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:Two minutes, twice a week.
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:No nonsense advice on
leadership communication.
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:The sales director thought the COO was
a coward while the COO thought that the
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:sales director was risking the business.
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:And that's a common situation
when opinions clash on an
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:issue we deeply care about.
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:The instinct when we face such a conflict
is to ask: “What's wrong with them?
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:Can't they just open their eyes?
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:It's so obvious.” But then again,
it makes kind of sense, considering
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:that these people care deeply.
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:They have thought it through.
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:And they have very good
reasons for their take.
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:And yet, this instinct leads
you down a path of blame and
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:ultimately into a deadlock.
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:And yet, this instinct leads you down
a path of blame and ultimately, into a
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:deadlock because of course the others
are thinking the same about you.
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:Actually, it's quite likely that
there are excellent reasons on
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:either side of the argument.
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:That's why, in situations like these,
I suggest a different perspective.
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:The choices you make going out of
conversations like these help our
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:team define who we want to be.
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:Given that there's no clear right
and wrong answer, anyway, it's
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:an opportunity to define what
kind of ride is right for us.
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:What kind of wrong are
we not willing to take.
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:So, it's not so much about who is right,
because in a way, both likely are right.
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:It's about who we want to be
and which path is right for
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:us heading into the future.
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:The easy way out might be to
sidestep these issues, hoping
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:they'll resolve themselves.
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:But more often than not, this leads
to even deeper problems down the road.
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:If you're the leader, it's way more
important to face these conflicts straight
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:on as these conflicts are precisely
the kind of conversations that lead
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:you and your team to your true core
and fill your journey with meaning.
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:Keep lighting the path and
share this with a friend.