Winning Conversations with ‘POISE NOW’: Step 1 - Purpose

All of us have certain situations and conversations that we dislike and prefer to avoid. Perhaps we have to give someone a negative message, raise a sensitive issue, discuss a project that has gone wrong.

We see only two options – we have to either go in heavy and push our agenda or water down our message and try and keep things smoothed over. But there is a third way: 
you can be upfront and supportive, you can be clear and empathic, you can acknowledge and give a straight message.
 
My new 8 step ‘POISE NOW’ programme is designed to help you prepare in advance of a potentially contentious conversation. Each stage flags a key aspect of a ’difficult conversation’ to reflect on and prepare for. As well as being an acronym of each stage, the word ‘poise’ means with grace and balance – which tends to be a helpful way of approaching these kinds of situations and interactions. 

In this and future articles, I describe each stage in detail with suggested action points relating to that stage.
 
You can find a pictorial overview of all 8 steps on this Infographic here.
 
At the end, you will have a clear, actionable roadmap that you can use to transform those ‘difficult’ conversations into win-win outcomes for both you and the other person in the situation.

This article looks at the first step – P - Purpose 
 
Read Step1 here.