Conversations to Have
Calibrating how he shows up in senior and cross-functional rooms
78% confidenceOpening line: “I want to share something I’ve observed that I think is worth a direct conversation. In some of the cross-functional and senior-stakeholder interactions where I’ve seen you, the depth of your operational knowledge is clear, but I’m not sure the strategic framing always comes through first.”
Desired outcome: Jordan understands the specific behavioural change being asked of him (leading with business impact and strategic intent before operational detail) and commits to a practice to apply in the next two or three relevant interactions.
Separating his personal critical lens from his organisational role
76% confidenceOpening line: “I want to talk about something that I actually see as a sign of your analytical strength, but that we need to manage together. When decisions come down from above that you have reservations about, I want you to bring those reservations to me; it’s a legitimate and valuable conversation.”
Desired outcome: Jordan distinguishes upward communication (sharing reservations with you) from downward communication (communicating top-down decisions) and commits to giving his team the reasoning they need to execute.
Building a structured development cadence for his team
85% confidenceOpening line: “You’ve already identified this yourself, and I want to make sure we turn it into something concrete rather than an intention. I’d like us to agree a specific commitment: by the end of this half-year, everyone on your team has had at least one structured development conversation with a documented focus area.”
Desired outcome: A specific, time-bound commitment is in place. Jordan has a simple format for the development conversation and a clear expectation that you will check on progress, not on the content of the conversations, but on what was agreed and is being actioned.