Holding Your Space In Critical Conversations

I was having a discussion with an executive coach about how you remain comfortable when having a potentially difficult conversation. There are a lot of theories about this and to some degree everyone will do it differently. One of the interesting thoughts that arose was that the course of a conversation can go in many directions and you will not necessarily know how it will turn out. All possibilities can exist at one moment. You need to remember you are not the only party to that conversation. What the other person says or how they react or their tone of voice can totally change the outcome. Their reaction may ultimately trigger you to move in another direction. This has been true for me in a number of difficult conversations that I have had.