From the course: Difficult Conversations: Talking about Race at Work

Compassionate curiosity framework in action

From the course: Difficult Conversations: Talking about Race at Work

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Compassionate curiosity framework in action

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- One of the things I hear a lot of times is that people are dissatisfied with what their company is doing as it relates to race. And so as we have these difficult conversations and we seek to persuade the leaders within our company, what we're going to do is use the Compassionate Curiosity Framework. So step one, acknowledge and validate emotions. And so what we could say is, "It seems as though you're hesitant to commit to doing more, is that right?" And then we listen, and then we hear a little bit more of the emotion and we say, "Ah, that makes sense, because it sounds like you're afraid that we might lose clients if we do anything more." And then you transition into getting curious with compassion. And so we're going to ask open-ended questions with a compassionate tone. "So what is it that you want to accomplish as it relates to inclusivity within our organization?" And lastly, joint problem-solving. And what we're doing here is we're recruiting them into the problem-solving process and turning this into a joint brainstorming session. And so we can ask a question like, "What do you think it is that we can do as a company to make sure that we are holding true to our commitment to diversity and inclusion?" And so that's a powerful but simple example of how the Compassionate Curiosity Framework can make it easier for you to have these difficult conversations about race.

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