If you’re not having Uncomfortable Conversations…you’re not doing it right.
“A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.” Tim Ferris
Getting a business or a team to change direction can be challenging. Throughout the process you’ll be gathering supporters, convincing stakeholders, working to change the minds of doubters while overcoming roadblocks. And you may be doing it all without official authority or only lukewarm support.
It’s great to have a vision, but how do you get buy-in? You’ll likely have to have many uncomfortable conversations, usually prefaced by a few sleepless nights where you endlessly run variations of the encounter in your head.
We’re going to share what we’ve learned about uncomfortable conversations: how to have them, how to choose your words and how to maximize your opportunities for success. And, most importantly, how NOT to wind up dead in the game of “Kill the Messenger.”
Because if this was easy, everyone would do it!
Upcoming topics include:
Getting buy-in from a decision maker to even get started.
Telling a team member they’re not carrying their weight in the project.
The budget projections are off. Way off.
Requesting privileges, resources and staff time you’re not entitled to.
Indifferent executive sponsors.
Suggesting the killing of a “sacred cow” or a business line.
Admitting Failure, Rewriting the book on Burying Mistakes
What if you kept a Failure Report? And showed it to the world? An antidote to burying your mistakes.
Humiliation, Rat Poison and a Freight Train
The Do’s and Don’ts of getting your point across if you’re following the Fulton County Rat Poison lady and a freight train rolls through…
Pull the Tooth.
There’s always that one thing. You dance around it, design elaborate workarounds. It persists. It’s time.
Rule #7: Locate the Elephants
What is everyone around you working hard not to “see.” Pointing it out can be career suicide.
Uncomfortable Conversation #1: “We need to shut down a business line”
The news isn’t good. It may not even be what they’re expecting to hear. Making a tough call isn’t easy and the conversation won’t be either.
Uncomfortable Conversation #2: The Project has some Cost Overruns. Big Ones.
You blew the budget. And now it’s time to face the music. How to have that conversation.
Uncomfortable Conversation #3: Requesting Privileges, Staff Time or Resources You’re Not “Entitled” To Have
You need it. They have it. They don’t want to share. How are you going to get it? How to have the conversation and not kill your career.
Uncomfortable Conversations: The Key to a Successful Turnaround
It’s great to have a vision, but how do you get buy-in? According to Tim Ferriss, it’s your ability to have the uncomfortable conversations. Read the series.
We Screwed Up.
One of the hardest things to do in public is to admit you are wrong. With the advances in social media and technology, it’s entirely possible that you can claim you’ve fixed something only to have live pictures scrolling alongside you on screen proving the opposite. Try not to do that.