Crucial Conversations

If you’re trying to bring success to your organization, you might start by asking yourself: What do organizations do to succeed? You might immediately think of answers like: They stick to a schedule; they run on budget; they achieve organizational goals. These are all important things and they are all true. However, although these answers are true, there’s something larger that allows those items to fall in place: Relationships.

Because they are so important, you should do all you can to constantly improve the quality of your relationships. It’s the healthy relationships that are going to sustain your organization and lead it to success. When your team gets along, they’ll be more motivated to produce results. One of the greatest keys to quality relationships is having effective conversations. These conversations are more than necessary, they’re crucial.

When you’re skilled in having Crucial Conversations, you’re going to see positive results within your team, your organization, and yourself. This module covers five central components of having a Crucial Conversation: Coaching, Feedback, Perspective, Emotional Intelligence, and Reflection. By focusing on these five segments, you will have the tools to improve your relationships and grow as a leader.

Here’s how the five segments connect to Crucial Conversations:

• Coaching: By viewing yourself as a coach, you can guide your team to correct mistakes and improve strengths. A coaching approach can help build trust and respect between you and your team. This segment will look at some aspects of coaching and suggest ways to incorporate coaching methods.
• Feedback: Whether you’re providing it or receiving it, you will experience transformational growth by improving your feedback skills. When feedback goes wrong or (even worse) doesn’t exist, you’re putting your relationships in jeopardy. This segment will give you some practical solutions to have meaningful conversations centered on feedback.
• Perspective: Respect, mindfulness, understanding. Any leader would wish to be known for these attributes. In this segment, you’ll challenge your perspective and learn some ways to see things from another’s point of view in a way that also gets the job done.
• Emotional Intelligence: In this segment, you’ll see how concepts like empathy, self-awareness, and social skills influence the relationships you have. You’ll become a more effective leader by raising your awareness of emotional intelligence.
• Reflection: Sometimes, situations go well and other times they don’t. This segment covers reflection, both professionally as a team and personally. You will experience true growth when you get into the habit of reflection.