Episode 55 - Dr. Andrea Molberg | Brave Conversations: Finding Common Ground Through Difficult Conversations

Do you struggle with having the difficult conversations of today? Are conflict conversations a challenge in your business or relationships? Are you looking for tools to enhance communication even through the difficult issues? Are you looking for a path through these turbulent elections and political times?

Our special guest Andrea Molberg, PhD delivers practical tools to help us all differently navigate our disagreements and to have the conversations that need to be had while lowering defensiveness, repairing relationships, and managing conflict and stress.

Dr. Molberg is a consulting psychologist who’s worked with Fortune 500 companies, health care organizations, non-profits, start-ups, governmental agencies, and educational institutions for over 35 years. Dr. Molberg holds a PhD in industrial/organizational and counseling psychology from the University of Minnesota.

A national trainer and speaker, Dr. Molberg designs and leads numerous train-the-trainer, leadership, and employee development programs. She’s the author of several books including her most recent, Emergency Kit for Finding Common Ground: Helping Americans Get Along (2020), which is stuffed with field-tested techniques for bridging the divide and helping people disagree without being disagreeable.

Listen in as Dr. Molberg shares her ideas on conflict communication, different ways to disagree, and paths to finding common ground.

The Impact Leadership Podcast is brought to you by Cardivera, the leadership development eco-system that helps your grow your people, grow your business and grow your life.

Show Notes

In this episode you’ll learn…

One of the most important things leaders can do is listen
Leaders don’t listen because they’re passionate and want others to hear it – the problem is the more we push; the more people resist; we’re lazy (listening takes more efforts); we don’t know how to listen; they’ve been rewarded in the past for talking
Beware of your quick judgments of others and how hard you hold onto those judgments
The best ways to improve listening and reduced judgments of others is my reducing fear
We listen better when we’re curious and we’re not curious when we’re afraid
People are craving safe places for conversations and work … we create safety through vulnerability
The difference between issues conversations and values conversations
Understanding the different styles of approaching difficult conversations
Leaders must be aware of the power differential impacts of their opinions in the workplace
The prevalent role of fear that impacts our conversations and judgments of others
The important role of respect in difficult conversations and relationships
We learn to only see things through our own perspective when we are children, which is part of what’s called unconscious bias
The role of language use in our differences and conflicts (the many ways that words can trigger)
When we’re angry we look to blame and pick fights including with our words
Behaviors often don’t match intentions, but behaviors matters more
The importance of magic words and phrases – “because” (the why behind what you believe, seek, share or ask) and “How am I doing?”
The importance of being vulnerable and saying “I’m sorry”
Predictability is more impactful on trust than positive intention
Every day do something to show respect for someone