A Wicked Wednesday webinar on navigating difficult conversations

“Smart organizations create a culture where it is safe to disagree”.

- Sydney Finkelstein “Why Smart Executives Fail – and what you can learn from their mistakes”

Many people struggle with having difficult conversations. Differences of opinion can lead to conflict and disharmony, with people feeling shut down and ignored. Resentment follows, maybe some white-anting, gossip, under-mining behaviours and suddenly we have an unproductive workplace. 

We’ve all been trained in cultures of competition and debate. We’ve been trained to listen through binaries of right and wrong, good and bad, I agree, I disagree, true, false. Our nervous systems are primed for reactivity in the face of disagreement. Our body-minds don't know the difference between a lion charging and a someone holding a different view. They both feel threatening! We can, however, learn to calm our reactivity, value multiple perspectives, include more diversity, have curious conversations, and generate collegial, creative and productive workspaces.

How? It takes training and it takes practice. We need to grow our skills and capacities to calm our nervous systems, to tolerate and actively appreciate differences in opinions, perspectives and ways of doing.

What if you could be less stressed when you head into meetings with others who hold a different view?  What if you could find common ground, shared interests, pathways beyond conflict and difficulty?

Join our webinar to get an understanding of the neurobiology of communication. We’ll share strategies and practices to deal with strong emotions.  We’ll explore how to be more curious and less defensive with differences so that you can find common pathways forward. What might that be like?