Do you have what it takes to overcome difficult conversations? We all face this at certain points in our lives. We are confronted with someone who we find too difficult to converse with. It can be a stranger, a salesperson, a friend, or at times, a family member. As a matter of fact, Kwame Christian believes that the most difficult conversations are with those who are closest to us. Like most of us, he used to fear difficult conversations and veer away from them the best he could until he realized running away was not resolving anything and, worse, it was not helping him grow. This realization led him to become the founder of the American Negotiation Institute, a company with the mission to empower professionals through the art and science of persuasion, conflict resolution, and effective communication. Discover the power of difficult conversations and how they can transform how you operate your business, your life, and the people around you.

“We have more power than we realize and we have the power to improve the quality of our relationships through the power of negotiation.”

-Kwame Christian

In this Episode:

• Choosing not to negotiate is a form of negotiation in itself
• Learn how to negotiate by thinking of the future looking back, and shifting from the fear of failure to the fear of regret
• Before engaging in external negotiations, internal negotiation should take precedence for this reason…
• Understand the difference between a constructive conversation and a destructive conversation, and the challenges you need to overcome to avoid conversation bias
• Realize how empathy can change the course of a difficult conversation and steer it into a more intentional, goal-oriented conversation
• Get to know the 3-step process of the compassionate curiosity framework to help you deal with difficult conversations

Episode Resources: 

• Live Training with James Neilson-Watt
• Finding Confidence in Conflict: How to Negotiate Anything and Live Your Best Life -
• Finding Confidence in Conflict TEDx Talk -
• How to Have Difficult Conversations About Race: Practical Tools for Necessary Change in the Workplace and Beyond by Kwame Christian

Connect with Kwame Christian: 

• Website
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• The Ask with Confidence Podcast
• The Negotiate Anything Podcast

Connect with James Neilson-Watt: