Management 101: Getting Results with Hard Conversations
Hard conversations are the stuff management is made of, and knowing how to handle conflict well is the stuff strong managers are made of.
As managers, we've all been in the unfortunate position of being, well, the "bad guy." Sometimes you see something in the moment that needs addressing, or there's a pattern of behavior you've noticed but have been putting off mentioning. None of us want to be the fun police, disliked, or distrusted by our team. But sometimes, delivering tough feedback is the nuts and bolts of our job.
In the past, you've tried to start those conversations with your team members, but it's gone really haywire - people yelling, getting defensive, turning it on you, or more. Or perhaps you're just scared those things WILL happen so you've avoided starting the conversation at all. Sometimes you just don't even know how to have these conversations and need some guidance on where to even begin.
I have absolutely done everything in my power to avoid hard conversations - trying to beat around the bush, give a compliment sandwich, or nice my way through tough feedback sessions with employees. None of it ever saw the results I really needed, and in some cases, cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars.
So when I tell you, that on my roughly 15000th re-watch of Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring I noticed something that made me standup and SCREAM at the TV and immediately start writing this training to make sure no one else looses the kind of time and brain cells that I have lost to avoiding conflict, you've gotta know it's good. And you don't even have to like Lord of the Rings to understand it.
What gives me the audacity? Let me tell you:
I cut my teeth on management with absolutely no training while I was building my company, oVertone, from the ground up. We went from 2 co-founders to 80+ employees in two states across every kind of position imaginable - everything from manufacturing to high level executives. And being the boss of all of them when you're in your late 20's and early 30's, you make enough mistakes to count them at night while you're trying to sleep.
After exiting, I wanted to make sure that no one has to go it alone, so I started coaching. Instead of counting my mistakes at night like sheep, I turn them into trainings and opportunities so that you can rest easy, confidently, and informed.
During this workshop, we'll analyze THAT scene that caused me to absolutely run AMOK with joy and break it down so that by the end you'll be able to:
- Confidently engage employees in tough conversations
- Stand your ground without getting defensive
- Know how to determine between facts and opinions, and how to use them effectively
- Remember and apply it when you need it, thanks to the power of storytelling
Love of the fantasy genre not required, but does make life better.
Join me for two hours to become a stronger manager, the Gandalf way.
About the Host:
After achieving world-wide recognition and publication for several feminist photography projects, I co-founded and bootstrapped oVertone Haircare in 2014 with my business partner, taking the project from kitchen table to Target shelves within 7 years. oVertone is recognized not only for its innovative, industry disrupting hair color products, but also for the company's cultural commitment to dismantling conventional beauty standards through embracing and promoting a culture of radical inclusion and intersectional feminism. After a successful exit in early 2022, I turned an eye back to what excited me most about building a business in the first place - the people.
Creating, maintaining, and scaling a culture at a company that grew from two to eighty employees across two states and several disciplines - everything from software engineering to manufacturing - became a huge passion for me. I found excitement and passion in developing a people-first culture that encouraged and grew employees from within, and saw the first hand impacts on the bottom line. Today, I love working with business leaders across industries to teach and support them in finding their voice and values, and I also co-create free to use trainings on culture and HR over at culturefrontiers.com