Pick up the phone and have that tough talk

 

Roberta Matuson, the author of Can We Talk: 7 Principles for Managing Difficult Conversations at Work, joins me this week to discuss how to take on tough conversations with your team and your clients. You know, those conversations that we’d rather not have and often avoid, mess up or deflect because they make us uncomfortable. 

 

What is putting off difficult conversations costing you and your business? What about the tough talks you’ve had with team members that didn’t go so well? When you avoid difficult conversations there is a financial, psychological, emotional, and energetic cost to you and your team.  There can be an even greater cost if a discussion becomes heated or goes off course with an employee. Listen in to hear how you can apply Roberta’s strategies to engage in productive and effective conversations that clarify your expectations, foster discussion and build a team. 

 

Do you need to raise your prices? Do any of your clients owe you money? It can be uncomfortable to reach out to a client to collect overdue payments or let them know that you are raising your prices. Do it the wrong way and you may find your clients leaving you. Tune in to hear our ideas on how to broach these touchy subjects with clients and actually build mutual respect in the process. It's all in the way you say it! 

 

As much as we as business owners need to find a way to engage in difficult talks with our team members, it’s equally important that our employees feel they can talk to us and give us valuable feedback. Listen to hear Roberta and I recount stories about toxic work environments we found ourselves in early in our careers and how we each navigated these dangerous waters, bettered our careers and used these “wrong ways” to shape how we lead conversations and encourage feedback in each of our businesses today. 

 

What’s in This Episode

1. How to initiate a difficult discussion with a client, employee, or employer

2. Getting what you want by changing your approach

3. Why you need your employees to give you tough feedback

4. The secret to turning your biggest critic into your biggest ally

5. “You’re in trouble”, provide feedback without sounding an alarm

6. How to navigate a toxic work situation

7. What is default management, and how to make it work for you

 

What To Do Next

Visit lisalarter.com/e41 for the transcript and all resources from this episode.