The problem with difficult conversations is almost always the illusion that resolution has been reached.
Designed for current and future leaders, managers and teams ready to have the important conversations that most people avoid.
Built around a full-day in-person group workshop. We start with individual one-to-one sessions before we all gather in order to uncover group and individual learning objectives.
Because we know that the value of any professional development should be measured by the long-term capability lift it delivers, we include additional one-to-one coaching for all participants as they prepare to put what they have learned into practice.
We work on real-world conversations, not made-up case studies, which means everyone leaves with an understanding of their own habits, a plan, and a new set of skills they will use immediately.
Crossing the Sea of Uncertainty.
A metaphor for the perils encountered while navigating difficult conversations.
RESOLVE
ISSUES
PROTECT
RELATIONSHIPS
NINE HOURS
SKILLS FOR LIFE
FUNDAMENTAL
SKILLS
PRACTICAL
APPLICATIONS
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
EIGHT MODULES
YOU'LL LEARN HOW TO
Leadership, people, and performance management.
Strategy setting and organisational alignment.
Investment and resource prioritisation.
Conflict resolution.
Commercial negotiations with customers, suppliers, and other partnerships.
Shareholder and governance conversations.
Leading and embedding change.
Influencing: up, across, and out.
Culture, engagement and retention.
Decision execution and accountability.
Personal relationships with the people who matter most.
...and many more.
Get crystal clear on what you want, and don’t want, from a conversation.
Set up a difficult conversation without triggering defensiveness.
Notice and control your emotions that hinder dialogue.
Read the signals in the room before a conversation can spiral.
Rewrite the unhelpful stories we tell ourselves, about ourselves and others.
Get the most from and for culturally, generationally, and neurodiverse teams.
Find the shared interest and avoid bargaining over positions.
Shift the conversation from ‘me vs you’ to ‘us vs the problem’.
What is a Difficult Conversation, and why do they matter?
Understanding your brain when under pressure.
Preparing and framing for dialogue.
Rewriting the stories we tell ourselves.
Facts, fiction, feelings, and the power of curiosity.
You have what it takes. Practical tools and a particular set of skills.
When others experience or process the world differently.
From dialogue to decision to action.
Upcoming Public Workshops
We know that committing the time and money it takes to upskill an entire team through our in-house programme is too much for some organisations. So we are trialing a series of public workshops throughout New Zealand.
Hawke's Bay
Write a short description of this category
Taranaki
Write a short description of this category
Nelson Tasman
Write a short description of this category
Christchurch
Write a short description of this category
Photo by Steve Philip on Unsplash
Photo by Marvin Rozendal on Unsplash
Photo by Mark de Jong on Unsplash
Where to next?
We estimate that the average manager will spend more than nineteen thousand hours of their working life having difficult conversations.
That number will be much higher if you are a founder or business owner.
Invest nine learning how to have them well.
Need proof that these skills can be learned?
Look no further than this guy.
The workshop draws on almost three decades of real-world experience, research, and first-hand observations from working with and within start-ups to multi-nationals, in both the private and public sectors.
It combines lessons from recognised experts on psychology, human communication, leadership, negotiations, and neurodiversity, and provides proven, practical tools developed for the New Zealand audience.
Mastering difficult conversations is not some mysterious superpower, and avoiding or fumbling difficult conversation is not a character flaw.
It is simply a skill gap, and like any other skill, it can be learned.
Richard Quin - Chief Pontificator and all the proof you should need that
Recommended reading from some of the experts who helped us make sense of it all.
Curious?
Book 30 minutes with Richard.
The first conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Either complete and submit the contact form, or simply book a call for a time that suits.
© 2026. All rights reserved.
Contact
Email: contact@reqlarity.co
Phone: +64 (0)27 498-1394
Terms & Conditions
