Elevation Occ Psy

Elevation Occ Psy Empowering inclusive workplaces through evidence-based occupational psychology and workplace health

Additional certification received! ✨✨
26/02/2026

Additional certification received! ✨✨

Enjoyed running a session today as part of Zest Psychology’s Let’s be Zestie: Manager as Coach series, focused on diffic...
24/02/2026

Enjoyed running a session today as part of Zest Psychology’s Let’s be Zestie: Manager as Coach series, focused on difficult conversations at work, and I’m reminded (again) how rarely these conversations are actually about performance.

In my research, the conversations people find hardest tend to sit around:
health and wellbeing
boundaries and workload
emotion and distress
identity and inclusion

They’re difficult not because people lack skill, but because care, risk, and uncertainty are all in the room at once.

One of the tools I shared today was the Difficult Conversations Compass, a simple reflection map to help people orient themselves before, during, and after a challenging conversation.

Not a script.
Not perfect wording.

Just a way of slowing things down enough to notice:
what really matters
where the risk sits
and what’s most likely to make the conversation feel hard

What really resonated today was how closely this work connects with Dr Anna Kane’s doctoral research and work on Authentic Confidence, particularly the emphasis on connectedness.

Handled with awareness and care, difficult conversations can strengthen trust, belonging, and our ability to show up authentically with others.

In that sense, they’re not a threat to confidence, they’re often a pathway to it.

I’ll keep sharing insights from this research here, and if you’d like to explore Authentic Confidence further, or learn more about how Zest Psychology supports individuals and organisations to build confidence and navigate difficult conversations, do get in touch with them.

Always glad to stay in conversation with others navigating this space.


Difficult workplace conversations aren’t about saying the right thing.They’re about being ready to hold:• discomfort• un...
18/02/2026

Difficult workplace conversations aren’t about saying the right thing.
They’re about being ready to hold:
• discomfort
• uncertainty
• emotion
• responsibility
That’s where real change happens.

🏂❄️🏂❄️🏂❄️🏂
18/01/2026

🏂❄️🏂❄️🏂❄️🏂

Night one! ✨✨
11/01/2026

Night one! ✨✨

Finland - here we come again!!! ❄️🏂❄️🏂❄️🏂
09/01/2026

Finland - here we come again!!! ❄️🏂❄️🏂❄️🏂

If I had to describe the heart of my research in a single line, it would be this:Difficult conversations are not communi...
18/12/2025

If I had to describe the heart of my research in a single line, it would be this:
Difficult conversations are not communication problems. They are relational and organisational problems expressed through communication.
When relationships and systems are healthy, conversations become easier. When they are not, no script is enough.
This shift in perspective changes how we design leadership development, how we think about “communication issues” and how we support people at every level of an organisation.

Across my research, three conditions consistently supported better difficult conversations:psychological safety,relation...
17/12/2025

Across my research, three conditions consistently supported better difficult conversations:
psychological safety,
relational clarity,
and organisational alignment.
When these were present, conversations still required care, but they felt possible and often productive. When they were absent, even simple topics became hard to navigate.
Rather than searching for a perfect model, focusing on these three conditions is often the most powerful intervention.

🐾🤍🐾🤍🐾
17/12/2025

🐾🤍🐾🤍🐾

Success in a difficult conversation is not “nobody got upset”.Participants in my study defined a good difficult conversa...
16/12/2025

Success in a difficult conversation is not “nobody got upset”.
Participants in my study defined a good difficult conversation in more meaningful ways. They felt heard, respected and understood. The purpose of the conversation was clear. The process felt fair. The emotional experience was challenging but manageable.
These criteria focus on quality rather than comfort. They remind us that it is possible for a conversation to feel emotionally stretching and still be experienced as fair and constructive.
That is a more useful standard to aim for.

Family time!!! 🐾🤍✨
15/12/2025

Family time!!! 🐾🤍✨

Most organisations assume that the important conversations are happening somewhere.My research suggested there is often ...
15/12/2025

Most organisations assume that the important conversations are happening somewhere.
My research suggested there is often a sizeable gap. Instead of being addressed directly, issues are worked around, delayed, diluted or pushed upwards.
This gap has a cost. It creates frustration, slows progress and leaves people guessing about what is really going on.
Closing the conversation gap is less about asking people to “speak up more” and more about building systems and cultures where it feels natural and safe to do so.

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