Real Workplace Conversations: the dance of Honesty, Clarity and Grace

Real workplace conversations: the dance of honesty, clarity and grace

In the heart of our workplaces lies and intricate web of relationships which are complex and, at times, highly demanding.? As professionals, we interface with a diverse array of personalities, individual and collective motivations, and expectations daily.? Yet, despite the vast tools and resources devoted to best practices when it comes to managing interpersonal communication in the business world, many of us still struggle with one elemental challenge: having real conversations at work.

Real conversations are neither simple nor always pleasant.? In my practice as executive coach, I more and more see the need for my clients to bring into their workplace conversations three fundamental ingredients: honesty, clarity and grace.

Honesty

Honesty requires vulnerability.? It’s about speaking one’s truth without hidden agendas.? In a workplace, however, honesty can sometimes be viewed as a threat.? Let me explain.? When it comes to admitting mistakes, questioning the status quo, or even raising concerns about team dynamics, we often feel like walking on a tightrope.? There is a pervasive fear of being judged, misunderstood, or sidelined.

Clarity

Clarity is about being succinct, direct, and unambiguous.? Clarity implies saying ‘I don’t understand” in a meeting or asserting “This is what I need from you” to a colleague.? It demands being precise and direct, sometimes forcing us to confront our counterparts.? In a world where ambiguity often provides a safe cushion, choosing clarity is a brave act.

Grace

Grace is the delicate act of being firm yet compassionate.? It helps us acknowledge that everyone, including ourselves, is a work in progress.? Showing and using grace in the workplace often means offering and seeking feedback with kindness, listening actively without formulating a rebuttal in one’s mind, at the same time, accepting that disagreements are inherent to human interactions.

When we are able to use honesty, clarity and grace, we are face to face with something profound: the ability to navigate the complex waters of workplace dynamics with a compass of integrity.? It’s about knowing that even if a conversation leaves a lingering taste of bitterness, we have done our part.

It’s about understanding that even when we face walls of incomprehension or resistance, we are committed to being authentic and honest in sharing our perspectives, intuition, knowledge and experience.

We might be still under the illusion that if we master the art of real conversations in the workplace, our professional life will be smooth sailing.? However, reality is not always so accommodating.

In this context, we are called to accept that there will be days in which discomfort, disagreements, and conflicts are the inevitable byproducts of these real conversations.

?Moreover, speaking with honesty, clarity and grace doesn’t guarantee the end of office politics or the absence of professional confrontations. And, most importantly, it doesn’t always lead to a resolution.

So, in our current ever-changing organizations and contexts are we truly equipped for real conversation?

The answer varies.? While some organizations have worked passionately at fostering workplace cultures where being vulnerable, open, transparent is a human approach valued above all, others are still fumbling in the dark, caught between the desire of genuine connections and the fear of being juded, harshly criticised, or dismissed.

In the end, the journey towards embracing real conversations in the workplace, is the courage of choosing and welcoming an exchange of perspectives, knowledge, experiences, feelings, and emotions.? The depth such an exchange brings it’s worth the risk, especially because its shapes us into better professionals and, ultimately, human beings.