Tackling Tough Conversations with Emotional Intelligence

This video helps you to recognise when a tough conversation is needed in the workplace.

Unchallenged behaviour is a universal issue and it made worse by organisations that have allowed this to continue for years.   This video highlights the issue.

Most people can recognise when a tough conversation is needed but are reluctant to do anything about it due to emotional tensions.

This video presents a scenario that highlights how assumptions can be the architect of disruptive responses.

We are not judged on how we feel; we're judged on how we behave.  This video looks at how misinterpretations around behaviour can arise from assumptions.

This video investigates assumptive behaviours and how these can lead to communication breakdowns. 

This lecture looks at the cycle of behaviour that occurs when attitude drives behaviour. There are some insights in how to break this cycle to stop it from escalating.

This video investigates the importance of behavioural agility which stems from our emotional intelligence.

This video helps you to complete the groundwork needed for you to prepare for the tough conversation in order that you can be confident that you can remain in the adult ego state.

This lecture explores the differences between a debate and a dialogue.  Ideally, the tough conversation should be a dialogue and so understanding the differences between the two will help to prevent the conversation from degenerating into a debate.

There are five levels of listening: ignoring, pretend listening, selective listening, attentive listening, and empathetic listening. Each level represents the degree to which someone is listening to another person during a conversation.

Listening is one of the most important components (if not the MOST important) of good communication and emotionally intelligent interactions. This lesson covers effective listening and poor listening skills.

This video investigates what hinders people's inability to listen and the detrimental impact of poor listening skills can have on effective communication.

This lecture covers ways in which fight and flight behaviour can be managed during a tough, difficult conversation.

This video links assertiveness with emotional intelligence in managing fight and flight behaviour.

We all have certain rights and responsibilities when it comes to being assertive. This lecture looks at these rights and responsibilities from your viewpoint and from the viewpoint of others.

This practical activity gets you to focus on and review the Ten Rules of Assertion. It asks you to consider how you can use these to develop your assertion.

If you are going to learn about your assertiveness and the impact it has on others, it is important that you complete this practical activity!

(I know that it is very easy to ignore this but you will not develop your assertiveness from just watching the video lectures!)

Although delivering bad news is never going to be easy, the good news is that there are things that we can do that will help. 

This video looks at the best way to get the facts right and to get them in the right order.

Bad news will unleash a range of emotions and will challenge a person's identity.  This video investigates both of these.

This video covers the four stages of sharing bad news effectively.

Sometimes people's reactions to bad news can be challenging.  This video investigates ways to deal with some tough reactions.

Language patterns are a big aid in all kinds of conversations.  This video introduces the language patterns and looks at how they can be used.

Language can be ambiguous at times.  Within this video we consider some examples and explore ways to use our language so that it has more meaning.

Influential language has an effect on the way a person thinks or behaves subconsciously.  In this video we consider how and why influential language works.

This video covers the Golden Rules of using language patterns and influential language so that it is used to influence not manipulate. 

This video investigates ways to use unconscious language supportively.

Social interaction styles consider your preferred pattern of behaviour for a large number of situations. This section looks at the four styles based on assertiveness and emotional control.

The Driver Style has a clear idea of their ambitions and goals, as well as the directness and forcefulness to achieve those goals. It also means that people like this will tend to have a competitive attitude, and they will generally follow their own ideas rather than work co-operatively with others.

This lesson reviews the Driver Style with particular reference to team working with some do's and don'ts when working with this style.

The Expressive Style thrives on the attention and approval of other people, and they're more motivated by praise and appreciation than most other types. Despite their outgoing attitude, they're often unwilling to risk causing offence, and they'll often avoid possible confrontations. In other words, while Expressive Style is socially confident, they tend not to be particularly assertive or forceful.

This lesson reviews the Expressive Style with particular reference to team working with some do's and don'ts when working with this style.

The Amiable Style is consistent and reliable in their approach. They prefer to operate in situations that follow established patterns, and to avoid unplanned developments. Because of this, people with the Amiable Style tend to be quite resistant to change, and will take time to adapt to new situations.

This lesson reviews the Amiable Style with particular reference to team working with some do's and don'ts when working with this style.

The Analytical Style likes to have a clear idea of their role, and what's expected of them, so they are far more motivated in situations that are clearly regulated and planned. In general, the Analytical Style is not independent by nature, and will prefer not to be left to make decisions or take actions without the support of others.

This lesson reviews the Analytical Style with particular reference to team working with some do's and don'ts when working with this style.

Each style has a unique set of priorities and preferences regarding relationships and tasks, and each prefers to work at its own pace. These can lead to tension.

Each Social Interaction Style reacts to increasing pressure in its own way around using their assertiveness and working with their emotions. 

Under pressure, the Driver Style will become autocratic. This lesson looks at why and how to work with this style in tough conversations.

Under pressure, the Expressive Style will attack.  This lesson looks at why and how to work with this style in tough conversations.

Under pressure, the Amiable Style will become acquiesce. This lesson looks at why and how to work with this style in tough conversations.

Under pressure, the Expressive Style will avoid. This lesson looks at why and how to work with this style in tough conversations.

This lesson contains a set of hints and tips that are useful behaviours for any interaction in the workplace.

This practical activity is a questionnaire that will give you some insights into your ego states. Your results will put you in a position to consider what your predominant ego state is and how it impacts on others.

This lecture introduces the topic of transactional analysis, which seeks to understand the ego state of the communicator (as a parent, adult or child) and the responses (as a parent, adult or child) as a basis for understanding behaviour.

This lecture explores some of the most common transactions in transactional analysis with some insights around their meaning.

Here are some further points that are worth considering when working with Transactional Analysis.

The Adult to Adult Transaction is the most effective and most emotionally intelligent transaction.  Here are 10 tips that will help you to main Adult to Adult transactions.

This booklet "Understanding Communication with Transactional Analysis" summarises each ego state and an overview of the expressed behaviours.

This practical activity gets you to investigate transactions between ego states so that you can develop your communication skills to engage with people more effectively.

This lecture introduces the concept of strokes in Transactional Analysis. A stroke is a unit of recognition described as one person acknowledges another by way of act or speech. Types of strokes can be positive and negative. verbal and nonverbal.

This lecture introduces the concept of stroke filters. These are mental filters that people unconsciously operate all the time. These filters only allow some of the stroke to reach the person, while they completely block some and distort the others.

This is a practical activity that will enable you to assess the strokes that you give and receive.

Life positions are basic beliefs that you have about yourself and others. This lecture investigates how life positions are used to justify decisions and behaviour.

Combining Transactional Analysis with Social Interaction Styles can be very powerful for improving communication and relationships especially when tackling tough, difficult conversations.

This practical activity will help you create scripts to build your confidence in tackling tough, difficult conversations.

This video covers some do's and don'ts when tackling tough conversations.

The final video specific to the course reviews the course and offers some key takeaways.

A few final words to conclude the course.

One of the most frequent questions that I am asked is "How do I access my Udemy certificate?". This video will help you if you are having issues downloading your Certificate of Completion.