Business is fundamentally an extended conversation. Whether you’re speaking with your boss, team members, colleagues or direct reports, conversations shape what gets done.
As a leader, you must engineer conversations to foster:
- Clarity
- Cooperation
- Creativity
- Connection to company values
Sadly, the quality of many work conversations borders on mediocrity and/or boredom, with meaning and connection reserved for personal conversations.
Fierce Conversations
In her books, Fierce Conversations and Fierce Leadership, consultant Susan Scott explains that the word “fierce” doesn’t imply menace, cruelty or threats. In Roget’s Thesaurus, the word fierce is associated with synonyms like robust, intense, strong, powerful and passionate.
“The simplest definition of a fierce conversation is one in which we come out from behind ourselves, into the conversation, and make it real,” Scott writes.
Some people, however, are intimidated by the idea of talking about what’s real because it requires raw honesty and vulnerability. In truth, it’s the unreal conversations that should scare us because they never address what needs to be said, cost organizations untold fortunes and limit individuals’ career advancement.
While politeness and constructive criticism matter, they should not come at the expense of meaningful interactions that explore diverse perspectives and competing recommendations.
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This is a brief synopsis of a 2000 & 1000-word article suitable for consultants’ newsletters for executives and leaders in organizations. It is available for purchase with full reprint rights, which means you may put your name on it and use it in your newsletters, blogs or other marketing materials. You may also modify it and add your personal experiences and perspectives.
The complete 2,000 word article includes these important concepts:
• Fierce Conversations
• Making It Real
• The Risk of Being Real
• Start Having Fierce Conversations
• Four Goals of Real Conversations
• Human Connectivity
• Emotions Have a Bad Rep
• How to Sharpen a Conversation
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