Here are three considerations to help leaders initiate tough conversations with their teams and start moving forward together.

Transformation demands tension. While conventional wisdom may advise leaders to suppress conflict and maintain comfort on a team, you must intentionally dial the tension up or down to tackle the challenging work ahead. Without this friction, you'll find yourself stuck in place, clinging to the status quo, even if it doesn't serve your shared objectives.

• How do you approach intensifying situations?
• Do you shy away from them, prefer to maintain a semblance of peace, or shoulder the tough tasks alone because you think you're better equipped?
• Do you lean into confrontation too much and escalate issues so often and intensely that it creates friction within your team?

If you regularly increase the pressure or demand, you may need to put in effort to restore your team's confidence in you. Try emphasizing your joint accomplishments to create an inspiring vision of what lies ahead, one that ignites enthusiasm and confidence instead of concern.

Conversely, if you tend to lessen the pressure or reduce the challenges faced, remember to remind yourself of the importance of engaging your team in the pursuit of your common goals. Reflect on the negative impact that avoiding difficult discussions can have on the entire group.

A clear and compelling purpose can help you mobilize your team to tackle what's necessary. Without a clear and explicit purpose, you may struggle to unite the team around a goal that transcends their fears or frustrations.

• As you prepare for a tough conversation, what's your clear objective?
• What are you hoping to achieve by the end of the discussion?
• Is your goal simply to convince them to agree with you, or are you also ready to listen and genuinely consider their perspective?

As a leader, you might have a clear perspective on why change is necessary and why you need to turn up the heat or generate some purposeful conflict to move forward. But remember, your team might have an entirely different view.

• Can you put yourself in your team's shoes and truly understand their perspective? What worries them? What gets them out of bed in the morning?
• What's the underlying story or cultural narrative shaping their actions and decisions?
• Do they hesitate to challenge the norm because your organization isn't open to differing views?
• Are you asking them to do something that could make their work seem less valuable?

Put yourself in their shoes and understand why they might be resistant to change. Acknowledge and address their concerns openly, rather than brushing them aside.

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