From the course: Having Difficult Conversations

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Deal with resistance during a difficult conversation

Deal with resistance during a difficult conversation

From the course: Having Difficult Conversations

Deal with resistance during a difficult conversation

- Difficult conversations come in all shapes and sizes, but guess what every single difficult conversation has in common? Resistance. Resistance means the conversation is either not happening or it's not going in the direction you want. There are different forms of resistance and we need to identify them. I like to use the acronym SAND, because when you're stuck in a state of resistance, you are basically stuck in the sand. SAND stands for stuck, attached, negative and distracted. Let's start with stuck. This is the indecision and avoidance that happens when you need to talk about something but you aren't sure how, so you procrastinate, or you avoid it entirely because you're afraid of the other person's response. To overcome being stuck, pick your battles. Ask yourself, what's the purpose of the conversation I need to have? Your reason why should benefit the other person as well as you. For example, the conversation you need to have will prevent a future problem. Picture the outcome…

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