Conduct the Conversation

You’ve planned a conversation where both you and the other person are able to express yourselves and contribute to a solution. Now, how do you start the conversation, and how do you keep it on track?

Here’s where the external work begins—the part where you leave the relative comfort of your own thoughts and actually invite the other person to join the conversation. But the thorough internal work you’ve done will help you keep your focus on the positive outcomes you now know are possible.

A difficult conversation might unfold like this. You and Kate are part of a cross-functional team. You’re responsible for the design of a new software product. Kate is managing the publicity rollout. For the past month, Kate has pressed ...

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