In Episode 10, ADI's Brian Molina explains the latest pearl, "Always state the facts; they are hard to argue with."
Transcript:
One of the most common challenges that leaders face is navigating those difficult but necessary conversations. Things like telling a teammate that they've been behaving unprofessionally in those meetings or perhaps they're not being as much of a team player as you wish they would be. Oftentimes leaders report that they've tried to address these issues but they just keep on coming back. So one strategy to make these conversations less painful and more productive is found in one of Aubrey's pearls of wisdom, "Always state the facts; they're hard to argue with." If you do what most people do-skip over the facts and just jump to a label like unprofessional-there's a good chance that that recipient will be coming up with every possible counter-example of when they have put their best foot forward, possibly dating back to their employment history with you. So instead of jumping to those fuzzy labels like unprofessional or complacent try to anchor the conversation in behavior. If you give specific examples and make sure to steer clear of judgment and criticism-just speak to what that person said or did that came off as unprofessional, you can avoid the likelihood of getting that defensive reaction. With the facts plainly laid out as a starting point, you'll have a much better shot at changing behavior while also preserving those relationships.
