My NHBR Column: Courageous Conversations

When conversations become difficult, are you inclined to engage in fight, flight, or avoidance? 

Courageous conversations are usually a better option, but these require both skills and a willingness to listen and be curious about what the other person is saying.  

In my volunteer work with Braver Angels, the national citizens movement that brings Americans together to bridge the partisan divide, we teach skills on how to manage difficult conversations when experiencing political disagreements. These same concepts can apply to other challenging conversations as well.  

In her June 24, 2024 essay “The Protest Trap,” Amanda Ripley writes: “Relationships make it harder for humans to humiliate, dismiss and degrade each other. . . . Relationships are not enough, on their own, but it’s hard to find humans living in peace and dignity without them.” 

For sure, this is not always easy, but this is the path to meaningful dialogue and personal growth. Of course, you can bypass this by choosing fight, flight, or avoidance – but what good do those do for you?  

We each need to dig deep in the spirit of these words by author Scott Mautz: “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to your courage and perseverance.”   

You can read my full column in New Hampshire Business Review at https://read.nhbr.com/nh-business-review/2024/10/04/#?article=4260100