Why Do Leaders Avoid Difficult Conversations?
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Why do your leaders struggle with tough conversations? It’s not just about discomfort—it’s about fear of failure, lack of confidence, and corporate politics. Leaders hesitate because they don’t feel supported, don’t want to look incompetent, or they’re trying to keep the peace with their team. But avoiding conflict doesn’t keep the peace—it makes things worse.
What Most Leaders Don’t Know
Every big problem in an organization can be traced back to a conversation that should have happened but didn’t. The reason: Most of us have been conditioned to avoid conflict, we unconsciously see conflict as a problem to avoid at all costs. But conflict itself isn’t the problem—mismanagement is. Mismanagement costs companies millions in lost productivity, customer complaints, safety, lawsuits, and turnover.
A Quick Snapshot of Conflict Mismanagement
✔ Delaying the conversation and suffering in silence.
✔ Aligning downward instead of building collaboration.
✔ Keeping problems from higher-ups.
✔ Walking on eggshells with peers.
✔ Ignoring complaints to keep the peace.
✔ Blaming upper management instead of owning corporateÂ
✔ Moving the problem employee instead of addressing the issue.
✔ Sugarcoating instead of setting clear expectations.
✔ Resorting to aggression when backed into a corner.
At the core, mismanagement is a habit-based coping mechanism to mitigate immediate stress and manage the internal conflict of people versus productivity. Over time, these coping mechanisms turn into bad-habits and blind spots that create workplace drama.
What We Know from Neuroscience
The brain learns what it practices. Avoidance strengthens the habit of dodging discomfort. The good news: Habits can be rewired! Your leaders can learn the skill of initiating difficult conversations, while promoting trust and increasing engagement. The Performance Coaching Model helps leaders retrain their brains to navigate tough conversations with confidence—turning avoidance into action and stress into solutions.
Introducing The Performance Coaching Model
The Performance Coaching Model equips leaders with a proven framework for initiating conversations that gets results. This model provides a foundation to understand leadership clarity, and a systematic approach for preparing for conversations using the Leadership Clarity Tool. Â
This course isn’t about theory—it’s about action. Leaders will learn a simple, repeatable process to approach tough conversations with clarity and confidence. With bite-sized lessons (5 minutes or less), downloadable learning guides, and nine essential coaching skills, this course makes it easy to apply what they learn inside their workplace.Â
$749 per person
This framework gives your leaders the skills to tackle problems before they escalate
(Download the course outline and get a sample overview!)
✔ Plan the conversation with the Leadership Clarity Tool
✔ Initiate conversations with confidence
✔ Stay positive and focused forward
✔ Avoid distractions and eliminate verbal Ping Pong
✔ Discern the root problem
✔ Connect the behavior to business results
✔ Turn conflict into accountability and collaboration
Proven Framework
Use a structured approach to navigate tough conversations.
Essential Skills
Master nine key coaching skills for leadership growth.
Practical Application
Apply real-world strategies to foster accountability.
