Handling difficult conversations with calm confidence
Build your leadership skills and resources for the toughest part of the job
Do you find yourself losing sleep over difficult conversations that are looming?
Do you ruminate over conversations that have happened?
Do you find yourself wondering why you said something, and wishing you had said something else?
Would you like to go into your next difficult conversation more confidently, knowing what to say and when?
Would you like to be able to regulate yourself better in difficult moments so that you respond rather than react?
Here's a resource that can really help!
After 17 years of school leadership, including 10 years as a head, I know the territory that you're working in.
Difficult conversations are something I've been grappling with for years.
They are also a regular topic of conversation in coaching sessions with leaders.
Navigating conflict was something I found hard as a leader. I didn't want to upset people, but I knew there were things I needed to say and messages I needed to give. I had to learn how to overcome the barriers and stay in line with my values, while holding others to account and providing the guidance they needed.
I've pulled together all the things that I've found to be most important and put them into a mini-course that's really accessible.
Course curriculum
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1Handling difficult conversations with calm confidence
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2The resilience toolbox
What this course includes
This course is structured into 2 sections, each containing a sequence of short videos, backed up by PDFs.
The first section covers preparing for difficult conversations, developing emotional agility and understanding what's at play when you're in the firing line, receiving complaints.
In the second section, you'll find a 'resilience toolbox', which will help you navigate your own nervous system and adopt strategies that help you regulate yourself and find calm confidence when you need it.
As you put these strategies into practice, you'll develop more trusting and productive relationships with staff and stakeholders.
The resources include details of my 4-step plan for preparing for a difficult conversation - focusing on the facts, being led by your values, preparing to be fully present and considering possible reactions. I also give you strategies that you can use to deal with difficult conversations that you can't plan for, like someone coming to you with a complaint.
I'll walk you through how to take things less personally, and provide you with some scripts, so that you'll always know what to say.