When confronted with one of those all-important work, personal or business conversations, we often can feel abandoned by the very quality we need most – our ability to communicate well. Under stress, our thinking processes can become dominated by poor decision-making which is typically characterised by seeing only limited choices.

In these crucial situations we often restrict ourselves to a stark choice between opposites, such as either:

“I am right or she is wrong”

“The project must go ahead as is or be completely scrapped”

“I will tell it as I really feel it or just say nothing at all.”

We may at times all fervently feel these types of extremes, but making crucial conversations work is all about:

• Avoiding reactive impulses;
• Probing for considered and balanced ways through challenging situations;
• Being reassured that there are effective and powerful ways of expressing even difficult messages.

The ability to work flexibly with different people and situations has not been taught well. This situation can be overcome though. For individuals, groups and organisations, I offer coaching/training in:

• conflict and communication strategies;
• effective advocacy and negotiation;
• understanding differing communication styles;
• developing ways to discuss the undiscussable.