Fierce Confront · Difficult conversation training
Address difficult issues while strengthening working relationships.
A deadline keeps slipping. A colleague’s behavior is affecting the team. You know something needs to be said, but you do not want to damage the relationship. Fierce Confront gives leaders a practical model for naming the issue, hearing the other person’s perspective and agreeing on what needs to change.
What conversation is your team putting off?
Tell us where leaders are struggling to address an issue. A Fierce advisor can help you explore how Confront fits your team and your development priorities.
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The workplace problem
The issue stays when the conversation waits
You soften the feedback. Drop another hint. Decide to wait until things are less busy.
Meanwhile, teammates work around the problem. Expectations stay unclear, and frustration builds on both sides. The person involved may not even know how their behavior is affecting the work.
A direct conversation gives you a chance to explain the issue and find out what you are missing. You can be clear about the impact and still be open to a different perspective. Fierce Confront helps leaders prepare for that exchange and move it toward an agreement about what happens next.
Part of the Fierce Conversations® methodology
created by Susan Scott.
WHAT CHANGES AFTER FIERCE CONFRONT
What will leaders learn to do differently?
After the program, managers will be better equipped to:
Name the issue clearly
Describe the behavior or performance concern and why it needs attention.
Open the conversation with purpose
Prepare a focused opening that makes room for the other person’s perspective.
Stay engaged through reactions
Work through defensiveness or deflection while keeping the issue in view.
Agree on what changes next
Move beyond airing frustration toward a clear agreement.
Method overview
How does Fierce Confront work?
Participants examine the cost of avoiding a conversation and five common confrontation errors. They then learn a model that takes them from preparation to a new agreement.
- 01
Prepare the opening
Develop a 60-second opening statement that brings the issue into focus and starts the exchange.
- 02
Engage in the conversation
Hear the other person’s perspective and practice navigating difficult reactions.
- 03
Move toward resolution
Work through what you have learned together and identify what needs to change.
- 04
Create a new agreement
Clarify the commitments that come out of the conversation.
The 60 seconds refers to the opening statement. The conversation itself needs room for listening, questions and resolution.
Audience
Who is Fierce Confront for?
For leaders and colleagues who need to address an issue directly and keep working together afterward.
Managers addressing performance
Discuss missed expectations or recurring behavior before it becomes an accepted pattern.
Colleagues working across teams
Address a difficult handoff, repeated interruption or broken commitment with the person involved.
HR and learning leaders
Help managers build the confidence and skills to have conversations they have been postponing.
Case Study
Make room for the conversations people are avoiding
At CHRISTUS Health, compassion had become confused with avoiding difficult conversations. Some leaders held back feedback, leaving employees unsure about their performance and reluctant to share their own perspectives.
CHRISTUS partnered with Fierce on leadership training that included confrontation, coaching, delegation and team conversations. Leaders gained a shared approach that the organization reinforced through other training and development programs.
“The number one improvement since partnering with Fierce is the creation of a common language where people can understand principles and apply them.”
Scott Hopkins
Director of Leadership Development, CHRISTUS Health
Title at the time of the case study.
This case study describes a broader leadership initiative that included Fierce confrontation training.
How Fierce delivers
Flexible delivery. Practical application.
Choose the format that fits how your people work and learn. A Fierce advisor can help you choose a format and plan how Confront fits into your organization’s learning path.
In person
Facilitated learning that gives people space to practice, reflect and work through real organizational challenges together.
Virtual
Live, interactive sessions designed to build skills across distributed teams without sacrificing participation or application.
On demand
Flexible learning that supports individual development, reinforcement and broader access across the organization.
RELATED PROGRAMS
Build the next conversation skill
Foundations
Fierce Foundations®
Build shared habits for examining assumptions and hearing different perspectives.
