How to Prepare for a Meeting Where Emotions Will Run High
Managing sticky, emotionally loaded situations comes with the territory of leadership. Beyond interpersonal issues, you sometimes must deliver bad news to your beleaguered team, address a client’s frustration, provide tough-to-hear performance feedback, or communicate a mistake or delay that affects the business. These moments can be tense, and even experienced leaders can feel stressed and unsure, worried about escalation or unintended fallout. And not every emotionally charged moment comes with a warning—to be sure, some take you by surprise. But when you do see one ahead, effective preparation makes all the difference. By visualizing success, focusing on the positives, deliberately modifying the situation, and building in buffer zones, you will navigate fraught meetings more confidently and successfully.
