Alastair WallaceCEO. Lead Consultant. Trainer. Coach, Brainfood Ltd · Leadership & Management Training for Busy Managers. Helping senior leaders stop handholding | Brain-friendly, diary-friendly | Save 5+ hours a week | 23,500 managers trained | 200% ROI guaranteed. TED

17.How to avoid meeting disasters

22 Jan 2024 · 1 min

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In this brief monologue, the speaker shares a personal disciplinary incident that went poorly because he was unprepared, describing the embarrassment and the appeal that overturned the decision. He uses this story to illustrate the importance of preparation for difficult workplace conversations, invoking the Cub Scout motto "be prepared" as a guiding principle. He then introduces his OCEAN Conversation Map, positioning it as a "sat‑nav" for planning and navigating tough discussions, and directs listeners to leadershiphack.com to obtain a free template.

Chapters

Are you a planner or a chancer? I used to be a bit of a chancer till I got my fingers burnt quite badly in a disciplinary where I wasn't prepared and it got overturned on appeal. I felt really stupid, I looked pretty stupid, and the person I was disciplining and their union thought they'd got one over on me. Bad, bad, bad, Wallace. So, the hack here is the old Cub Scout motto: be prepared. You wouldn't do a parachute jump without checking all your kit first to prevent anything going wrong, would you? Work conversations are much more successful if you know where you're going and how you're going to get there. My OCEAN Conversation Map is the ultimate sat nav for navigating and planning difficult conversations with people. Go to leadershiphack.com and get in touch for my free OCEAN Conversation Map template. You are very welcome.