Last week I had a tough conversation. I knew it was going to be tough so I spent a good three or 4 hours prepping for the it and the one inevitable question that was going to come up. Unfortunately, it was as tough as I thought it would be, but it went nothing like I expected it to.
Reflecting back on the prep work, I should have spent more time considering all the questions and issues that might have been brought up instead of focusing primarily on the one question that never came up. Darn darn darn…
Anyway, I read a great post this evening from Peter Bregman that gave one hint that would have helped: Whenever I’m surprised and I don’t know what to say, I now ask a question. Even if that question is: “Can you tell me more?”
I am putting that one in my learning journal… a nice little bit of conversational judo.
Shawn Grubb
The Critiques