Crucial Conversations Sample

Crucial Conversations: Consider Your Motives

Joseph Grenny, author of Crucial Conversations, highlights in a Harvard Business Review article four ways to best prepare for a tough conversation. The first way is to "get your motives right.”

The stress of a tough conversation has a way of surfacing selfish motives even more than usual. Grenny recommends that our first step should be to reset our motives. 

He recommends doing this by asking yourself “What do I really want?” What do I want for me? For the other person? For the relationship? For other stakeholders? And I would add, “What does God want?”

Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

When we set aside our selfish motives, and instead focus on the right motives, our conversations become more objective and fruitful.