TES 041 - How to Have a Difficult Conversation

In this episode, #1 Bestselling Author and Highly Acclaimed business & Entrepreneur Expert, Mel Abraham digs into the 9 elements of a conversation which is about how we can have a meaningful discussion. This episode is the second part of a two part series on communication. This one covers The Resolution Roadmap and it helps us understand how we can have a difficult conversation with others.

The Resolution Roadmap

It is about learning, clarifying and understanding the opening, conversation and completion of a dialogue.

Opening

• Issue: At first, you need to learn what the issue is. Share or discover the challenges by asking or telling explicitly.
• Example: Seek to clarify by giving a specific situation or example. Instead of being generic, you will have to specifically mention the challenges and the issues.
• Concern: Share your concern without accusing the other party. Make sure that they understand what the concerns are.

Conversation

• Importance: They should understand why it is important for us to have a good resolution. Create a dialogue where you connect and explain what the importance is.
• Personal: Clarify the personal side of it without them feeling attacked. Allow them to own the issue and you should also own what you brought to the situation. Take the responsibility of your contributions and you will have the ability to shift it.
• Listen: Give them the opportunity to voice their understandings and concerns. You need to listen, see where it goes without interrupting and don't get caught in the details.

Completion

• Curiosity: After hearing their positions and concerns, you have the opportunity to tell them where they are not right. But instead of keeping score or attacking them with words, you can use language patterns which tells them that you are curious and you want to understand the situation better.
• Resolution: In some cases, we might need to dictate a resolution; but to create something that is embraced by people, we need to jointly come up with a solution. This is how you find a meaningful resolution.
• Agreement: After creating a resolution, come to an agreement so that you can move forward. At the end, the needs of all the people invested in the conversation should be met.

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ABOUT MEL ABRAHAM

Mel is the founder of Business Breakthrough Academy and Thoughtpreneur Academy where he helps entrepreneurs bring their businesses to the world and build the lifestyle that they want. Mel is one the most sought after entrepreneurial mentor and strategic thinkers of our time. Unlike many other so called “business coaches”, Mel has lived everything he teaches and continues to do so. Mel has built, bought and sold numerous multimillion-dollar businesses for himself as well as his clients. As the author of The Entrepreneur’s Solution: The Modern Millionaire’s Path to More Profit, Fans & Freedom Entrepreneur, Mel’s strategies have helped build th