Many professionals struggle with difficult conversations in the workplace, particularly when emotions run high. Your first performance review, for example, was probably uncomfortable. Here’s why. What ...

We live in polarizing times and it’s easy for conversation to lead to topics that spark high passions—from politics and climate change to DEI, immigration, or broadly defined human-centric leadership.

arises when raising difficult topics. This universal challenge affects professional settings, personal relationships, and social interactions alike, creating barriers to effective communication when ...

Managers and employees need to have meaningful conversations. In professional collaborations, the reluctance to engage in challenging conversations can unravel the threads that bind a team together.

When the world of work turned upside down in 2020, we quickly adapted to Zoom calls, Slack threads and digital whiteboards. At first, this newfound flexibility felt liberating. But as we settle into a ...

Whether it is in the workplace or at home, we have all experienced times when we are at an impasse with someone. We simply can’t find a way to have a productive dialog. Every one of our attempts to ...

Avoiding uncomfortable conversations can carry stark consequences. In one recent coaching engagement with a mid-size financial services firm, the CEO and I added up the cost of a long-swerved ...

This Q&A is part of Observer’s Expert Insights series, where industry leaders, innovators and strategists distill years of experience into direct, practical takeaways and deliver clarity on the issues ...

Where should L&D focus its attention in 2026? Learning expert Robin Hoyle urges the profession to spend less time on task-based upskilling, where value is short-lived, and instead prioritse the ...