If you want to understand what often stops teams from being more productive and successful, look no further than the tendency of most people to avoid difficult conversations.

 

Recognizing this fact is leadership and talent expert Roberta Matuson, who has dedicated her latest book Can We Talk?: Seven Principles for Managing Difficult Conversations at Work to this universal workplace conundrum.

 

Asked to name the one topic that most people are afraid to bring up at work, Roberta says that it’s unquestionably that of employee performance.

 

For managers, this hesitation takes place when a team member is failing to meet expectations or when the time has come to inform them that they’re being let go. On the other hand, employees may struggle to tell their boss that the way they’re being managed isn’t working for them or that they deserve a raise or a promotion.

 

Roberta reminds us that “people don’t work for companies. They work for people.”

 

Can We Talk? offers seven principles that guide people toward “the right conditions for a meaningful discussion,” helping both parties see situations from each other’s point of view in order to move forward in a productive manner.

 

These are: confidence, clarity, compassion, curiosity, compromise, credibility, and courage.

 

Listen in as Roberta breaks down a few of these principles, while also explaining what drives satisfaction at work, a tactful approach to letting staff go (even at the executive level), and how to “select for success” to ensure your new hires only do work that energizes them.

 
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www.amazon.com/Can-Talk-Principles-Difficult-Conversations/dp/1398601330