How to Lead Difficult Conversations Positively

Welcome to the course!

This short course is designed to give you concrete communication tools and techniques to lead a difficult conversation with a colleague or an employee. I developed it because several people shared they were dreading a performance evaluation meeting with one of their employees because they needed to have a difficult conversation. But the truth is that they are easy choices we can make to help us lead difficult conversations any time, any where. I will show you how.

The course offers:

1. Engaging, interactive content supported by research.

2. Easy-to-follow recommendations to prepare for any difficult conversation.

3. Reflective prompts with live feedback and comments from the instructor.

4. A foolproof structure for leading difficult conversations.

A Little Bit About Me

I am Dr. Julien C. Mirivel, a professor of communication at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, an author, and a professional speaker.

Originally from Paris, France, I traveled to the US as a 15-year old to learn English. Today, I am a founding scholar in the emerging field of positive communication and an award-winning teacher and scholar. In 2013, I was named a Distinguished Teaching Fellow at UA Little Rock.

I am the author of four book on positive communication, including:

* The Art of Positive Communication: Theory and Practice

* How Communication Scholars Think and Act: A Lifespan Perspective

* Communication and Community: Theory and Practice for Social Change (with Kristen Christman)

* Positive Communication for Leaders: Proven Strategies for Inspiring Unity and Effecting Change (with Alex Lyon)

I have been teaching communication courses for over two decades and have conducted hundreds of training, keynotes, and workshops on how to communicate effectively around the world. My writing has been featured in FastCompany, CEOMagazine, HRMorning, ChiefExecutive, and more. I am also a TEDx speaker whose mission is to inspire individuals and groups to communicate more positively at work and at home. In 2022, I founded the Positive Communication Network.

I am thrilled to have you join the course. Please connect with me on LinkedIn. You can also learn more at www.julienmirivel.com.

In this course, I propose that to lead difficult conversation, supervisors, managers, and leaders need to master a unique set of skills. You will need:

• The ability and skills to foster psychological safety.

• The consistent application and mastery of positive communication skills.

• The use of unique tools to open up interaction and enable the person to change.

Let me share a bit about each of these.

1. Psychological Safety

Edmondson, a leading researcher, defines psychological safety as "a shared belief between individuals as to whether it is safe to engage in interpersonal risk-taking in the workplace."

Notice the phrase "interpersonal risk-taking," this means being willing to be open, share ideas, and express ourselves. In a safe workplace culture, people feel like they will not be rejected "for being themselves or saying what they think." When people feel safe, it's because they sense that they are respected, valued, and can actually engage in constructive conflict or confrontation. In other words, they feel like they can take some risks.

Knowing this, it allows them to grow.

When employees feel really safe: they feel free to engage in communication, voice their opinion and are more likely to seek feedback.

So, if you want to have a hard conversation, first things first, you need to create an environment in which people will feel safe to change.

2. Positive Communication Skills

I define positive communication as any behavior that functions to enrich human relationships. It is communication that is constructive and productive, and which reflects from the individual a higher degree of confidence and an aspiration toward excellence. In this course, you will learn three critical positive communication behaviors that make a difference in difficult conversations. Those behaviors are part of larger model I developed, which is featured in my 8-week  course, "The Art of Positive Communication."

3. Unique Techniques

Like in any art, techniques are what helps individuals move toward proficiency. In painting, you need to learn certain strokes. In tennis, it is top spin or slice. Building your communication skills is just like that: you need to learn some basic techniques that will shift the interaction in a productive direction. In this course, I will share a few techniques developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless, authors of "Power of Liberating Structures: Simple Rules to Unleash A Culture of Innovation," which I highly recommend.

To promote your learning, we will follow a 3-part structure:

In Section 2, we will reflect together about our experience with difficult conversations.

In Section 3, the heart of the course, I share a 3-part process to develop your skills in leading hard talk.

In Section 4, I will give you a chance to prepare for a difficult conversation by developing an interaction map. And if you ask for my feedback, I will offer some suggestions.

Let's get to it!