Last week I worked with a leadership team that had strong levels of trust and psychological safety. Through our Team Health Diagnostic, we could see that team members genuinely respected one another and felt comfortable contributing. Yet when we explored their Execution and Performance results, a different story emerged.
As we unpacked the results, one theme kept surfacing. There were conversations people knew they needed to have, but weren’t having. Not because they lacked the skills. Not because they didn’t care. Often because they were worried about how the conversation would be received.
I think many leaders can relate to that feeling.
Most of us have experienced moments where we know we need to address an issue, provide feedback or challenge an expectation. Yet we find ourselves waiting for a better time, a better opportunity or a better set of circumstances. We tell ourselves we’re protecting the relationship, when in reality we’re often postponing the clarity that relationship needs.
What I have learned over the years is that the conversations we avoid rarely disappear. Instead, they tend to show up elsewhere. In frustration. In assumptions. In declining accountability. In the energy we spend thinking about the issue rather than addressing it.
The leaders who navigate this best tend to make one important shift. They stop viewing courageous conversations as something they are doing to another person and start viewing them as something they are doing for the team, the relationship and the outcome they are trying to achieve.
The reflection I invite you to consider is this: what conversation have you been postponing, and what impact is that having on your team’s ability to perform at its best?
If courageous conversations are an area you’d like to strengthen across your leadership team, I regularly facilitate workshops that help leaders build both the confidence and capability to navigate these conversations well. If you’d like to explore what that could look like in your organisation, I’d love to chat. Book a conversation
