One of my most influential mentors would say, “Help me understand…” whenever he needed an explanation on behavior that seemed illogical.
Help me understand why you would arrive late when we know the importance of timeliness.
Help me understand why you recommend going contrary to tradition.
Help me understand why you feel we should make that the top priority.
Every time I heard him approach a situation with that intro, I saw how disarming it was to get the other person to talk without becoming defensive.
What’s more, the conversation always led to better solutions. And respect for every participant was kept intact. Masterful.
In a crisis communications situation, word choice can navigate leaders through even the most delicate matters. Executive Vocabulary is the best program I’ve seen for adults to improve the word tools in their toolboxes.
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