Ep153: Awkward COVID Conversations...

COVID conversations are about to get super awkward and much more prevalent. So if tricky conversations aren’t your thing... it’s time to learn. (Last week’s replay episode also has some good pointers.)

Why is that important for business?

There are so many opportunities to have awkward conversations right now because we are making decisions not just for ourselves, but for others as well. We are dealing with several different versions of The Trolley Problem (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem) every day in business.

Company policy has to start with first person plural – the we. We can’t make decisions for everyone without considering the individual, but we can’t make decisions based on each individual either. If we did, it is inevitable that pressure would develop, either from higher up or peers or the bonus structure or something else.

Which means we are being called to higher levels of leadership and good boundary setting and communicating well. To do that, we need to look for the right questions instead of the best answers and get curious. Whenever someone acts in a way you don’t understand, if you squint your eyes and look for the commitment in what they are saying – what are they committed to in that action? – it helps to understand they why.

When you have a strong company culture, your employees can help with this by pushing back with “that’s not who we are”; a strong collective identity helps you put a stake in the ground to navigate the trickier waters.

As you decide who you are and what you care about, resist the urge to make everything a yes or no and look at the nuances. Things are going to get complicated and awkward and we’ll have to respond withhigher levels of leadership, communication and boundary setting and conversation than we have ever have before.

So, that's our story... now, we want to hear yours!

Pull up a chair and join the conversation in our Facebook Group: bit.ly/shmsgroup

OR...

Shoot us an email: talktous@soheresmystory.com

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