Alison Wood Brooks

Thank you so much for having me.

Thank you so much for having me.

Thank you so much for having me.

Alison, one way we mishandle difficult conversations is that we avoid having them all together. How common is such evasion?

Alison, one way we mishandle difficult conversations is that we avoid having them all together. How common is such evasion?

Alison, one way we mishandle difficult conversations is that we avoid having them all together. How common is such evasion?

Avoidance is so common. And it's common in my life, too. I'm an avoider. And so I deeply understand why so many people avoid having hard conversations. They avoid people that they know will be hard to interact with, and they avoid topics that feel at least ahead of time like they're going to be very difficult for any number of reasons.

Avoidance is so common. And it's common in my life, too. I'm an avoider. And so I deeply understand why so many people avoid having hard conversations. They avoid people that they know will be hard to interact with, and they avoid topics that feel at least ahead of time like they're going to be very difficult for any number of reasons.

Avoidance is so common. And it's common in my life, too. I'm an avoider. And so I deeply understand why so many people avoid having hard conversations. They avoid people that they know will be hard to interact with, and they avoid topics that feel at least ahead of time like they're going to be very difficult for any number of reasons.

You know, I remember many years ago as a small child, my grandfather, you know, had rented out an apartment to someone and that person wasn't paying my grandfather the rent. And my grandfather knew he had to have, you know, a conversation with the tenant. And basically, it was going to be a difficult conversation. And he was a people pleaser and he hated having difficult conversations.

You know, I remember many years ago as a small child, my grandfather, you know, had rented out an apartment to someone and that person wasn't paying my grandfather the rent. And my grandfather knew he had to have, you know, a conversation with the tenant. And basically, it was going to be a difficult conversation. And he was a people pleaser and he hated having difficult conversations.

You know, I remember many years ago as a small child, my grandfather, you know, had rented out an apartment to someone and that person wasn't paying my grandfather the rent. And my grandfather knew he had to have, you know, a conversation with the tenant. And basically, it was going to be a difficult conversation. And he was a people pleaser and he hated having difficult conversations.

So whenever he saw the tenant, you know, come up the other side of the road, you know, he would run and hide in the bushes because he didn't want to. The difficult conversation with the tenant. And of course, as a small child, you look at that and you realize, oh, these are difficult conversations. One way to handle them is to basically not have them at all.

So whenever he saw the tenant, you know, come up the other side of the road, you know, he would run and hide in the bushes because he didn't want to. The difficult conversation with the tenant. And of course, as a small child, you look at that and you realize, oh, these are difficult conversations. One way to handle them is to basically not have them at all.

So whenever he saw the tenant, you know, come up the other side of the road, you know, he would run and hide in the bushes because he didn't want to. The difficult conversation with the tenant. And of course, as a small child, you look at that and you realize, oh, these are difficult conversations. One way to handle them is to basically not have them at all.

That's right. That's right. And it's not always the wrong instinct, but you do have to sort of think about. Who is it leading us to avoid and why? Why are we avoiding these topics? And are those reasons good? Are they biased? Are they preventing us from having a deeper relationship?

That's right. That's right. And it's not always the wrong instinct, but you do have to sort of think about. Who is it leading us to avoid and why? Why are we avoiding these topics? And are those reasons good? Are they biased? Are they preventing us from having a deeper relationship?

That's right. That's right. And it's not always the wrong instinct, but you do have to sort of think about. Who is it leading us to avoid and why? Why are we avoiding these topics? And are those reasons good? Are they biased? Are they preventing us from having a deeper relationship?

Can you think of a conversation that you need to have with another person that you've been putting off, Allison?

Can you think of a conversation that you need to have with another person that you've been putting off, Allison?