Inspiring Workplaces 
The Way Work Ought to Be!

#1,084- July 30, 2025

As I write about in my gluten-free, pine-scented book, "The Jerk-Free Workplace: How You Can Take the Lead to Create a Happier, More Inspiring Workplace," no one likes conflict. Everyone, yes, including your boss, dreads having those "difficult conversations." So, here are eight mindsets to help you overcome your potential dread associated with having that next difficult conversation. 

1. Stop thinking of them as difficult conversations! All that does is ratchet up your anxiety. Instead consider them constructive, needed conversations, and focus on the outcome, not the event itself. 
2. Everyone thinks they are bad at dealing with conflict. Adopt a growth mindset and view every conversation as a chance to get better at dealing with challenging issues and remind yourself of past successes that demonstrate you're not as bad as you think you are! 
3. Remind yourself you are doing the other person a favor. Imagine if the shoes were reversed and someone was holding back telling you something that you know would help you in the long run! Wouldn't you have wanted to know sooner?  
4. Tear off the band aid: Don't put off a challenging conversation. The longer you wait the greater your anxiety will ramp up. Remind yourself that our imaginations almost always overestimate how bad an important conversation will go. 
5. Enter the conversation with a partnership mindset. Be humble and offer to help and support the other person so you both walk away feeling better. 
6. Be curious, not judgemental, or accusatory. Rather than going in with a "Boy, am I going to give them a piece of my mind" mindset, instead ask yourself questions like, "I wonder if there's something going on beneath the surface that I just don't know about or something I haven't considered?" 
7. Never consider this a one-time conversation. Instead view it as the first in a series of conversations. This takes the pressure off you and ensure it doesn't become the "STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONSHIP" of conversations. 
8. Schedule a follow up immediately so both of you can check back to support each other and bring up any new questions, ideas, or concerns that may have bubbled to the surface after you have had time to properly ruminate over the conversation.