How to have an effective conversation

Episode Number

3

In this episode, I’m digging into one of the most essential (and often overlooked) leadership skills: having truly effective conversations. We explore where our focus goes during high-stakes chats – are we tuned into what we can control, or tangled in assumptions about how others might react?
How to have an effective conversation in leadership

In this episode, I’m digging into one of the most essential (and often overlooked) leadership skills: having truly effective conversations.

We explore where our focus goes during high-stakes chats – are we tuned into what we can control, or tangled in assumptions about how others might react?

I’ll share the difference between listening to respond vs. listening to understand, how to balance push vs. pull communication styles, and why planning matters more than we often admit.

Whether you’re preparing for a difficult conversation or simply want to communicate more intentionally, this episode is a powerful reminder that the way we talk changes what gets done.

Here are the highlights:

Focus on Controllable Aspects (1:58)

Balancing Listening to Respond and Understand (3:55)

Push-Pull Communication (9:11)

Planning for Effective Conversations (11:40)

Subscribe on Apple
Subscribe on Spotify

Share:

More Podcast Episodes

What a rugby crowd can teach us about leadership

This episode starts with a moment at Twickenham that completely caught me off guard and ended up teaching me more about leadership than I expected.

I was there to enjoy the Rugby match, not to learn a lesson, but what happened in those first few minutes made me stop and think about expectations, assumptions and how easy it is to react before you truly understand what is going on. It reminded me how important it is, especially in a new environment, to observe first and act later.

Why HR needs space to breathe and lead better

In this episode, I wanted to open up a conversation that has been pressing on my mind for months.

So many HR leaders are running on empty, holding the emotional weight of organisations while feeling they have nowhere safe to take their own challenges.

Courage, chaos and the messy truth about change

In this episode, I sit down with consultant, coach and author Steve Hearsum to talk about the uncomfortable realities of leadership, change and why there really isn’t a “fix it fast” solution for complex problems.

We dig into his book There’s No Silver Bullet and explore why the need for certainty often stops leaders from doing the deeper, inner work that actually matters.

The HR Space - a year-long group support process designed specifically for senior HR practitioners

Why HR deserves support too

This week, I want to speak directly to the CEOs and managing directors out there – and honestly, to anyone leading a business.

How often do you check in on your HR leader? Not just on their workload, but on their wellbeing? HR carries an invisible weight that so often goes unseen. They hold space for everyone else through restructures, grievances and endless waves of organisational change, but rarely have a space to process their own emotional load.