Stepping Up to Difficult Conversations: Fear Is Normal
July 24, 2006 ·
This post is a continuation of Stepping Up to Difficult Conversations: What My Grad Students Taught Me. What I’m about to write will make more sense if you read that first!
I asked my grad students what their greatest fears were before having the difficult conversations they’d chosen. They named the kinds of fears you and I would probably name, too:
I feared it wasn’t the "right" time to have the conversation.
I feared I’d be found out for who I really am.
I was afraid I might resort to some of my more rageful ways.
I worried that it would backfire and make things worse.
I was afraid the other person would get angry at me.
I feared retribution or other consequences at work.
I was afraid I wouldn’t handle myself well.
I was afraid I wouldn’t have the strength to see it through.
Then I asked them what their greatest hopes were. I’ll write about their answers next.
Inspired by these students,

[tags]relationship communication[/tags]







perfect topic for me these days - I seem to have a lot of difficult conversations looming.