A framework for difficult conversations

For all you leaders out there navigating difficult conversations and don’t have enough acronyms in your life (iykyk lol fyi):

E — Empathetically seek to understand what might be going on for the other person. What are their dreams, hopes, fears, doubts, goals and insecurities that they’ll be bringing to this conversation?

A — Ask questions that enable you to better understand where the other person is coming from and how they hope to move forward. Questions like: What’s difficult about this for you? What does success look like for you…