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4 Ways to Communicate Without Conflict
What it means to be “unarguable” in your communication.
Last night, I caught myself asking my wife, “Hey, did you leave these plates in the sink?” Although I was a bit frustrated, there was no emotion in my voice. Still, in that moment I could see a conflict starting to unfold as her face tensed up. Luckily, working as a coach with my executive clients (and, especially, founder teams) has taught a much better way of communicating. I quickly added, “Let me rephrase what I just said,” and proceeded to share a more direct request.
Not only was conflict avoided that night, but it became a moment of sweet connection and understanding for us. She takes a lot of credit for that outcome, but it was built on how I chose to communicate with her. More accurately, it was built on how I chose not to communicate with her.
We can’t control all aspects of conflict and argument with others. But we can control how we engage with them and how we invite them to engage with us. Here are the four ways to do just that. Spoiler alert: number four is the most important and ties them all together.
1. Observations, not accusations
The first area to take a long look at is our intentions behind what we say. Often, when we start off a conversation…
