The Inquiry Club: Having Difficult Conversations

Difficult conversations are part of life—ending a relationship, asking for a raise, giving difficult feedback, resolving conflict with a friend, coworker, neighbor, or family member, setting boundaries, or simply saying what needs to be said.
Yet most of us were never taught how to navigate them.

This gathering is for anyone reflecting on a difficult conversation they've had, one they're currently contemplating, or one they wish they could have.
Some of the questions we'll explore include:

• What makes a conversation difficult?
• When is it worth speaking up, and when is it better to let go?
• What conversations do we most often avoid—and why?
• How do we balance honesty with kindness?
• Looking back, what difficult conversation changed your life?

I’d like to point out - sometimes the difficult conversation with another person cannot happen until we have first had the honest conversation with ourselves.

A difficult conversation with someone else often begins with a known perspective gap that you are trying to bridge. A difficult conversation with oneself often begins with a gap between recognition and acceptance—and between acceptance and action. That second gap is why self-conversations can drag on for years.

There are no experts and no prescribed answers.
Instead, we'll explore these questions together by sharing observations, examining assumptions, making our reasoning visible, and learning from one another's experiences.
Whether you're facing a difficult conversation today or reflecting on one from years ago, you're welcome to join us.

Bring a question. Leave with a broader perspective.
Think. Participate. Learn.