10 Essential Leadership Conversations

Effective leadership is a set of conversations repeated week after week that clarify expectations, stretch thinking, build capability and keep work on track.

This drives performance.

Some conversations create momentum very quickly. Others keep performance healthy and consistent over time.

Here’s the 10 conversations that every leader should be having:

🔹 Coaching - Creates space for better thinking. It helps people test assumptions, sharpen judgement, and develop the confidence to work through complex issues themselves.

🔹 Feedback - Provides clarity on priorities, standards and what matters most. Allows people to move more quickly and with less cognitive effort.

🔹 Direction setting - Reduces cognitive load by providing clarity on priorities, standards and what matters most. People move faster when they don’t waste energy guessing.

🔹 Wellbeing check-ins - Prevents pressure turning into burnout and allows your team to maintain capacity over time.

🔹 Career conversations - Builds capability and motivation, and keeps people committed to the organisation by showing they have a future here.

🔹 Accountability - Reinforces expectations, standards and fairness. Consistent follow-through protects trust and drives results

🔹 Ideas generation - Surfaces practical improvements and motivates people through involvement and autonomy.

🔹 Conflict resolution - Protects team cohesion and prevents small tensions turning into bigger issues.

🔹 Constructive challenge - Challenging the status quo keeps thinking fresh, challenges habits or assumptions and avoids group think, leading to improved performance and decision making over time.

🔹 Pushing back - Ensures teams aren’t overloaded and expectations stay realistic which maintains focus and protects morale.

Leadership lives in the conversations leaders have.