Engaging in great conversations as a leader can be transformative for your workplace. You can improve commitment, develop stronger bonds, inspire, motivate and even decrease your turnover rate. With remote and hybrid working making us more susceptible to disconnection than ever before, a good conversation has never been more important. So we started one. During our recent webinar with Sheriden Barry, Business Operations Director at Talenza and Ellen Hooper, Co-Founder and Director at The Growth Collective, we took a closer look at how to build and manage your executive presence through the power of conversation. We uncovered how you can ensure your employees feel valued, build strong relationships and have those tough conversations without burning bridges. 

Four Steps to Success 

If you want to get the most out of your teams, it takes more than just bringing everyone together and having a brief meeting about your current action items. To have effective conversations and take your leadership to the next level, there are four key steps to consider. 

1. Set Clear Expectations 

The best way to get rid of any uncertainty in your team is to make your expectations crystal clear. Too much confusion and uncertainty can lead to disengagement and, worst case scenario, see people looking for the door. As Ellen highlighted during our webinar, setting expectations is more than just giving people a to-do list. 

“When we set clear expectations, it's not just the work that needs to be done, it's also when it needs to be done. You might also have some expectations about how it should be done or the way that people conduct themselves.” 

These conversations are also not something to set and forget. As Ellen also pointed out, it’s about “compassionate persistence”. Don’t be afraid to check in and reiterate these expectations. At the same time, don’t micromanage. Give your team the space to show you they know what they’re doing. 

We love this  checklist from Maggie Wool  for making sure you’re communicating things clearly to your team: 

1. Set expectations early and consistently. 
2. Ensure expectations are achievable and realistic. 
3. Use the SMART goal framework for setting expectations and effectively evaluating progress. 
4. Tie expectations to specific metrics. 
5. Regularly review employee performance against expectations. 
6. Remain open to collaborating on setting expectations. 

2. Give Positive & Constructive Feedback 

We all know feedback is great, if not crucial, to help your team achieve their best but how you deliver that feedback is important, particularly if something hasn’t gone to plan. While it can be tough, being vague to make sure someone doesn’t feel bad doesn’t help anyone in the long run. If you’re not clear on where improvement is needed, how can you expect your team to know what to fix? It can also leave you sounding less professional. Saying someone is difficult to work with sounds much worse than being more specific and offering clarity with something like, “They don’t respond promptly to emails which can cause us to miss deadlines”. Something Ellen also highlighted during the discussion was the importance of including positive reinforcement in your feedback. 

“There's some really good research on the praise-to-criticism ratio …We want five pieces of positive feedback to one piece of constructive feedback.” 

Instead of just saying “good work” or “thank you”, try and be more substantial and specific with your positive feedback. What did they do a good job on? What skills did they display? The goal is to give feedback that is clear, constructive and compassionate. 

3. Enhance Accountability 

We’re going to start this section off by letting Ellen explain the concept of accountability. 

“Accountability in a nutshell is being able to answer the question, “So what?” If I do a good job, so what? If I don't do as well as I could have or what is expected of me, so what?” 

Understanding and accepting accountability is a big part of a successful team. So how can you enhance this understanding within your team? 

Lead by Example 

If positive attitudes and professionalism are what you want from your team, it starts with you. Be a mirror of the behaviour you want your team to display and set the standard they need to follow. 

Commitment & Clarity 

Make sure your team understand how their work contributes to the organisation’s overall goals. People feel more energised by their work if they can see the significance of their success. In line with that, make sure there is a commitment in place to achieving certain goals or reaching deadlines. Whether it’s verbal or written, make sure there’s an understanding of expectations before kicking things off. 

Consistently Follow Up 

We don’t mean checking in on people on the hour, every hour. While an informal drop-in to make sure things are running smoothly is ok now and then, it’s important to schedule regular meetings to give everyone the chance to voice any issues or concerns and get feedback. 

Evaluate Performances 

If you’ve got team members who are smashing goals, make sure to acknowledge the good work they’re doing. If you’ve got people falling behind, take the opportunity to sit with them, brainstorm solutions and figure out what the issues are and how to help them improve. 

4. Improve Through Effective Coaching 

We all have room to improve. If you want to take your leadership to the next level, you need to bring your team members with you. A really effective way to do that is through coaching sessions fuelled with effective questions. We’ve got a few examples of things you can ask depending on the situation you’re addressing. 

Need to clarify outcomes?

• How would you prefer to do this?
• What would you prefer to do?

Need to change perceptions?

• Is the problem with the task or how you feel about the task?
• Are you making assumptions that may not be completely true? 

Need to improve your state of mind? 

• Can you remember a time you felt confident/creative/calm? 
• Think about that time. How were you feeling? What did you see? What did you hear? 
• Focus on that time and allow that feeling to flow into your body. 

Need to improve a situation? 

• Has this happened to you or someone you know before? 
• What did you or they do to overcome it? What tools were used? 
• Can you try that again? 
• Are there tools you know of you haven’t tried yet? 

Need to improve learning? 

• How can I help you more effectively understand and learn? 
• Reflecting on that, what did you learn? 

Need to improve support? 

• What is currently in place that is helping you? 
• What can I do to offer more support? 

Tips for Tough Conversations 

An inevitable part of leadership is having not-so-fun conversations with your team, but it is important. We don’t want to hurt people’s feelings or strain relationships, but we also need to address issues and concerns to ensure they don’t end up having an impact on the whole team’s performance. Next time you find yourself prepping for a tough conversation, consider this plan. 

 
Clarify your thoughts - check that your thoughts and feelings about someone are based on facts and not just assumptions. If not, maybe you need to reevaluate your perspective. 

Define your goal - what do you want to achieve from this conversation? Set some specific goals and outcomes. 

Context is key - consider what responses the person may have during the conversation. If you can anticipate some reactions and prepare appropriately, it can help reduce uncertainty and anxiety around the conversation. 

Positive engagement - start the conversation with a polite “attention check” phrase such as “Can we discuss …?” 

Start with the facts - begin the conversation by talking about observations you’ve made. 

Share your thoughts - after you’ve laid out the facts you can start to talk about your concerns and thoughts. Avoid accusing them of anything by linking these perspectives with the factual information you’ve already shared. 

Seek understanding - to avoid assuming and accusing, ask questions to gather their thoughts and perspectives on the issue. 

Confirm and clarify - as you reach the end of the conversation, make sure to reiterate everything you’ve talked about and ensure you both have the same understanding of everything that’s been shared. 

Plan of action - you’ve talked about the issues, now let’s work on solving them. Work together to come up with a plan that benefits both of you. 

Make a commitment - whether verbal or written, make sure you’ve both agreed to the plan put in place, taking note of the other person’s reaction. If they don’t seem completely satisfied with what’s in place, reopen the conversation to try and find a new solution. 

You’ve Got This! 

Being a leader can be a tough gig sometimes, but when we know how to handle those tricky situations it can also be extremely rewarding. If you’re looking to build a stronger team that smashes their goals and overcomes obstacles and issues effectively, it’s all about communication. 

Want even more tips and tricks for improving your leadership? Check out the full webinar here.