Life-Changing Conversations, with Susan Scott

Susan Scott is a bestselling author and leadership development architect who has enabled top executives worldwide to engage in vibrant dialogue with one another, with their employees, and with their customers for two decades. Susan and her company are committed to large scale and individual transformation through the principles set forth in Susan’s books and her company’s customized corporate training programs.

For 13 years, Susan ran think tanks for CEOs and designed and delivered training to peers working with CEOs in 18 countries. In 2002, Fierce Conversations Achieving Success at Work and in Life, One Conversation at a Time, was published in 4 countries and, shortly thereafter, was listed on The Wall Street Journal and UPI best seller lists, and was one of USA TODAY’S top 40 business books of 2002. Her much anticipated second book Fierce Leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst Best Practices of Business Today was published September 15, 2009. In its debut week, the book was listed on The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times best seller lists.

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

• What all losses have in common
• How to respond to hostile confrontations
• The key to leadership
• Questions to ask to avoid making assumptions
• What our most valuable currency is

Resources:

• Website: https://fierceinc.com/
• LinkedIn:
  • https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-scott-1b63388/
  • https://www.linkedin.com/company/fierce-inc-/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FierceConversations/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/fierce_inc

Getting It Right

Susan Scott is a bestselling author and leadership development architect. She’s helped business owners and their teams communicate verbally for two decades. For 13 years, Susan ran Think Tanks with CEO’s and through her work realized that every loss and every gain comes down to one conversation. Often leaders are focused on being right rather than getting it right, leading them to fall short of brilliance. Our lives succeed or fail gradually, then suddenly – one conversation at a time. Ultimately Susan would like to have fewer conversations that accomplish more. In this episode of the Intentional Greatness podcast, Susan joins us and shares how to have successful conversations that may possibly change the trajectory of your life.

Speaking With Love

Susan’s brand is built on the word fierce. She believes that you cannot fake fierce conversations. If you ask someone to elaborate or explain you should mean it. Susan explains how critical it is for leaders to listen to the thoughts and suggestions of their team members. You will find that the answers are always in the room. Asking for honest feedback can invite unwanted or hostile confrontation. During these uncomfortable moments, Susan suggests that you take a moment to ask, “what would love do in this situation?” Speaking with love will provide space to get to the root of the conversation.

Don’t Make Assumptions

Susan finds that most humans make up stories about people, and then behave as if the stories are true. We should never make assumptions. Susan suggests that people focus on getting the facts in conversations, this will lead to less blame. She says that the key to a good leader is the person who can describe a scenario without any blame. Blame masks the valuable message that people need to hear.