Scott McInnesFounder and Director, Inspiring Change · 20+ Years Helping Leaders Build Stronger Cultures, More Human Communication and Embed Lasting Change | Founder | Keynote Speaker | Podcast Host

Why tough talks go wrong #ManagementTips #WorkplaceConnection

19 Jun 2026 · 1 min

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Scott McInnes says tough conversations need trust first. A colleague of years can raise concerns constructively, but a stranger saying "this is shit" will backfire. People avoid these talks now, even though they should be normal at work.

Chapters

You can't have a difficult conversation with somebody you don't have a connection of trust with to start with, or it's very difficult. If you just go in raw with a conversation with somebody you hardly know going, "This is a bit shit, to be honest," then you've got no trust, you've got no connection. If you and I have worked together for the last 2 years and you're like, "Christine, I just want to chat with you about something. I've got some concerns. I know you're doing a great job on this client, but actually I think there's more we can do here. I think we need to focus on this. I think we're missing something," then that's going to be a— hopefully, if we both handle it well— a reasonable conversation. If you just appear out of nowhere and say, "This is shit," it's going to be a disaster. And so what I think we're finding is that people are unable to have these more difficult conversations that would have just been part of the fabric at work because they're nervous of it.