Nitin Nohria, Harvard Business School's 10th and current dean, maintains that"Communication is the real work of leadership."
The more difficult or important the conversation, the clearer this becomes.
The next time you're in an important conversation,
or one that's going poorly,
ask yourself three questions:
- What do I really want for myself?
- What do I really want for ______ (others in the conversation)?
- What do I really want for this relationship?
You have the most influence over one person in the conversation (yes, yourself), so the biggest opportunity then comes when then you ask,
"How would I behave if I really wanted these things?"
This strategy, and much more, is found in the excellent book Crucial Conversations. Tools for Talking When the Stakes Are High.
