Dear Everybody, I’m at a conference in San Francisco this week. I’ll be presenting at the Conference for Global Transformation, then visiting relatives, then skibbling around the city with my sister for a few days. While I’m away, it’s your turn to practice some stretch exercises with The Four Conversations. I recommend that you try […]
“My performance review is due next month,” Edwin said. “I’m going to wait and see what happens, and if she gives me a bad review, I’m going to take it to the union or sue her. She would be totally out of line, and I’m going to turn her in.” That’s a recipe for a […]
One of the Four Conversations that get results is a Closure Conversation. There are four ways to have a Closure Conversation, but the second type of Closure Conversation can be especially costly if neglected: Appreciate the people who are working on a project or goal, recognizing what they have accomplished and/or contributed and saying why […]
The instructor explained that a “Closure Conversation” is when you talk with someone to complete what happened in the past. “Just because you don’t like someone is no reason to be ineffective with them,” he said. “It’s like erasing a blackboard – you take all the old issues out of play and make room in […]
Two people this week have complained to me about someone else’s failure to do something. One was Dan, a mid-level manager, who felt that another mid-level manager should have informed him of a decision she made. “She should have known it would create problems for our service team”, he said. “Why didn’t she call me to […]
Paula Deen, the celebrity chef and cooking show host, continues to have problems because her attempts at apologizing for making racial slurs are really not apologies – they are explanations, denials, and justifications. This is evident in her recent interview with Matt Lauer on the Today Show. Apologies are closure conversations in which one admits […]
Wayne LaPierre, the head of the National Rifle Association, made a fundamental mistake when responding to the massacre in Newtown CT last week. He used an understanding and an initiative conversation when he should have used a closure conversation. Rather than use a closure conversation to acknowledge the magnitude of the tragedy, appreciate the shock, […]
When the employer-review site Glassdoor.com recently designated Dish Network the country’s worst employer, Dish Network CEO Joe Clayton called the worst-employer label “ridiculous.” Unfortunately, Joe’s denial won’t change what employees or, now, the public think. If he really wanted to change how Dish has been branded, he would start with a Closure Conversation. Closure conversations […]
Jeffrey and I recently led a leadership training session for a state agency. During that session, one of the questions participants wanted to address was “How do we get greater accountability from people.” The answer, you build it through the combined use of performance and closure conversations. Accountability is not a personal characteristic; it is […]
I have a friend who’s reputation is being damaged by not having a closure conversation. Jay, the friend of mine, was recently accused of lying by Colleen,. According to Colleen, Jay agreed to print and assemble materials for a training session on community service. Since this was something Colleen was used to doing, and was […]
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