Effective Difficult Conversations – A Step–by–Step Guide

Libraries are experiencing more change than ever before. Conflict is bound to happen during any change process, whether the change is organization-wide or involves a single individual. Additionally, librarians often take leadership positions without the necessary preparation to lead change and many new professionals are unwilling to consider leadership in their institutions because they know that such positions require conducting difficult conversations. The ability to hold an effective difficult conversation is one of the key skills of a successful leader especially in this time of rapid change. Holding an effective difficult conversation is tricky. The emotions of the people involved can be unpredictable and balancing a clear message with compassion takes planning and perseverance. Most importantly, following up a difficult conversation with a written description of the agreements reached during the conversation is imperative for moving forward. This book will provide readers with a step-by-step process to gain the skills needed to have effective difficult conversations that hold themselves and others accountable. Activities throughout the book will encourage practicing skills to learn the concepts in more depth prior to an actual conversation.

After reading this book, readers will be able to:

• Identify conversations that need their intervention in order to avoid unnecessary conversations.
• Successfully prepare for and implement a difficult conversation in order to effectively manage change and handle personnel issues.
• Understand the importance of follow up in order to effect change and hold employees accountable.

• Improve their ability to handle conflicts in the workplace.

Catherine Soehner is the associate dean for research and user services at the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah. She has held leadership positions in libraries since 1998. Ann Darling is the assistant vice president of undergraduate studies, and an associate professor in the Communication Department at the University of Utah. She has been in leadership positions in higher education since 1996. Together, they have provided presentations on "effective difficult conversations" as part of the University of Utah Leadership Development Program since March 2013. The success of their presentation broadened their reach across campus and they began providing the same presentation for the Health Sciences Leadership Development Program for a total of four presentations each year.