Dread-Free Difficult Conversations: Speak Up With Courage

Overcome your discomfort and assertively lead productive, empathetic conversations with win-win outcomes.
What you'll learn
Prepare for your difficult conversations
Overcome the common fears that keep you from having the conversation
Manage anxiety about the conversation before, during, and after
Keep your people-pleasing habits in check
Make sure your passion and direct style isn't being interpreted as aggressive
Integrate assertiveness skills to crisply articulate your message so it's heard
Get crystal clear on what you want to say and who you're saying it to
Discover frameworks to have hard conversations with a peer, your manager, a report or a friend
Handle manipulation and very difficult people
Requirements
Be ready with an example of a hard conversation you plan to have or have had
Description
You know the feeling: you have something difficult you want to say to a colleague or friend. But you're worried about how they'll react, figure, "Why rock the boat?," and talk yourself out of it. You attempt to ignore it, but of course, nothing changes, and you find yourself dwelling on what it is you want to tell them. You want to keep the peace and avoid a conflict, so again, you stay quiet. You try to let it go to avoid an uncomfortable conversation, but that discomfort just stays with you.My aim in creating this course was to teach you to be able to speak up when it really matters no matter how uncomfortable that idea seems to you now. The benefits of being able to do this far outweigh the discomfort, I promise. You may have trouble speaking up when you disagree, struggle to give difficult feedback to a report, need to shape the way your manager manages you, or figure out how to say "no" to what a stakeholder wants you to do.Most people shy away from these types of tough conversations, because they don't have the skills to approach them in a way that makes them feel safe. They may downplay the impact not having the conversation is having on their self-esteem but also the sheer amount of time they spend thinking about the unresolved issue.I've been teaching and coaching people on this subject for over two decades and have worked with my clients on it across industries, jobs levels and cultures. I'd like to give you all of my own hard-earned tools to help you tackle your difficult conversations and develop the muscle that will only grow stronger with practice.In this course, you will:Learn why having difficult conversations is so importantTame your anxious thinking around speaking upSpeak assertively (not passively or aggressively) to get the best outcome from your conversationPrepare your message by understanding the other person's point of view and finding common groundTackle those tough conversations, whether with a peer, manager, direct report, or friendDeal with manipulation when passive-aggression is at playThe course is full of practical tips, examples and exercises you can build on one step at a time along with invitations to put what you're learning into practice, immediately.There are no prerequisites to taking this course. If the title pulled you in, then this course is for you. Please join me in this course!
Overview
Section 1: Welcome!
Lecture 1 Introduction
Lecture 2 Why You Need to Have Difficult Conversations
Lecture 3 Exercise: Identify Your Difficult Conversations
Section 2: Manage Your Anxiety
Lecture 4 The Nature of Anxious Thoughts
Lecture 5 Common Fears About Difficult Conversations
Lecture 6 Exercise: Challenge Your Anxious Thoughts
Lecture 7 Exercise: Reframe Your Thinking
Section 3: Assertive Communication
Lecture 8 Default Communication Styles
Lecture 9 Passive Communication: Being "Too Nice"
Lecture 10 Exercise: Fix Your Passive Language
Lecture 11 Aggressive vs. Assertive: Not the Same Thing!
Lecture 12 Exercise: Fix Your Aggressive Language
Lecture 13 Communicating Assertively
Lecture 14 Exercise: Assert Yourself With No Consequences
Section 4: Preparing Your Message
Lecture 15 Overview of Message Preparation
Lecture 16 Understand Who You're Talking To
Lecture 17 Clarify Their Point of View
Lecture 18 Look for Common Ground
Lecture 19 Keep Judgment at Bay
Lecture 20 Exercise: Prepare Your Message
Section 5: The Conversation
Lecture 21 General Guidelines for Difficult Conversations
Lecture 22 Exercise: Putting the 5 Steps into Practice
Lecture 23 Conversations with a Peer
Lecture 24 Conversations with a Manager
Lecture 25 Conversations with a Direct Report
Lecture 26 Conversations with a Friend
Section 6: Dealing with Manipulation
Lecture 27 Passive-Aggressive Manipulation
Lecture 28 Common Manipulation Tactics
Lecture 29 Exercise: Identify Manipulation Tactics to Protect Yourself
Section 7: Conclusion
Lecture 30 Charting Your Path Forward
Less experienced managers working in a corporate setting who need guidance on giving difficult feedback to their direct reports,Entry to mid-level individual contributors looking to improve the way they assert themselves in the workplace,HR or Learning & Development professionals who want frameworks to guide employees on having difficult conversations
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