Leadership & people management
Help managers lead the conversations their teams remember
Feedback, performance and people decisions handled with clarity and fairness — practiced before they happen for real.
Conversation moments people practice here
A manager must raise something uncomfortable — feedback, a decision, or a performance concern — with someone who may react defensively.
- Delivering difficult feedback to a strong performer
- Telling someone the promotion isn't happening
- Opening a performance-improvement conversation
- Navigating a defensive or emotional reaction
- Resetting expectations after a missed commitment
- Coaching an underperforming team member
The feedback they won't want to hear
Daniel · senior engineer
"So people are complaining about me behind my back?"
- Staying specific
- Reflective listening
What the practice actually works on
-
1
The behaviors: staying specific, describing observable events, and keeping the conversation forward-looking.
-
2
What makes the counterpart challenging: they feel blindsided, question the fairness, or push back on the evidence.
-
3
How the conversation can change: from defensiveness to a shared plan — or escalate if the manager generalizes or avoids specifics.
Counterparts you will meet
-
LEADERSHIP TRANSITION
Overlooked Manager
Slow to open up
Underestimated
-
PERFORMANCE FEEDBACK
Defensive Engineer
Skeptical
Pushes back
-
PROMOTION DECISION
Passed-over Lead
Ambitious
Discouraged
What changes
More consistent feedback, fewer regretted decisions, and managers who hold hard conversations instead of postponing them.
See all conversation domains