'Eat that Frog'

🤔 Are you tying yourself up in knots, trying to find the right way to say something difficult to a colleague, member of your team, or even to your boss?

You'd be surprised how often this scenario shows up in a coaching conversation. I regularly work with leaders who don't want to upset a colleague despite there being a problem, or a manager who isn't able to effectively tackle some form of underperformance or conduct issue. I also regularly work with senior leaders, who are struggling to speak plainly to executive leaders or their CEO about an issue which is impacting on them.

It's time to 'Eat the Frog!'.

Brian Tracy coined this phrase in his bestselling book of the same name, to provide advice to leaders to boost productivity. He advocates doing the hardest things first, rather than delaying them to procrastinate on how you will carry out the action.

Time and again I coach leaders who are spending huge amounts of time thinking about how to have this conversation. This over thinking leads to the conversation being delayed, or watered down, so that the meaning is lost.

Just last Friday, I worked with a leader who had planned to 'Eat the Frog' and have a difficult conversation with a colleague at the beginning of the week, and had still not done it. In discussion, she then revealed that she wouldn't have the conversation that day, as she didn't want to impact upon her colleagues weekend, so would probably delay again.

If you struggle with having these kinds of conversations, coaching can help you untie the knots, and create a clear strategy to have the conversation which is in line with your values. I have space for up to three more coaching clients before Christmas. DM me to arrange a FREE discovery call.

🤔 How good are you at 'eating the frog?'

🤔 What are your top tips for having these conversations?