Difficult conversations training for leaders
THE CONVERSATION YOU'RE AVOIDING IS COSTING MORE THAN YOU THINK.
Confident Conversations© is an online, 6-week practice-based course for new and experienced leaders. About 2 to 3 hours a week on your own schedule, built around real conversations, live coaching, and AI-powered practice.
$497 • Full refund through day 7 of your cohort • Enrollment closes November 8
ENROLLMENT FOR THE NOVEMBER 9 COHORT CLOSES IN
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THERE IS A CONVERSATION YOU ARE AVOIDING RIGHT NOW.
You know it matters. That is why it feels so heavy.
The feedback you keep putting off.
The team member who gets defensive.
The peer who pushes back in meetings.
The manager who gives unclear direction, then questions your work.
The conversation where something needs to be said, but you are not sure how to say it without making things worse.
So you think it through. You tell yourself you will bring it up next time. Then the next time comes. And you soften it, over-explain it, avoid it, or walk away, replaying what you wish you had said.
That does not mean you are a bad leader. It means you are being asked to perform in moments you have never had space to practice.
AND IF IT FEELS LIKE YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE AVOIDING THESE CONVERSATIONS, YOU ARE NOT.
2 in 3
managers say they are uncomfortable communicating with their own employees.
Harris Poll for Interact, 2016
8 in 10
workers say they are avoiding at least one difficult conversation at work.
Crucial Learning, 2019
$25,000
or more is what 1 in 3 employees estimate not speaking up in a crucial moment cost their organization.
Crucial Learning, 2022
Building this across a team? See how organizations enroll →
KNOWING WHAT TO SAY IS ONLY HALF OF IT.
You know
✓ Feedback should be direct.
✓ Defensiveness does not mean you back down.
✓ What a clear, composed leader sounds like.
Then the conversation starts
✗ Their tone shifts.
✗ Your own reaction kicks in before you can catch it.
✗ None of it holds up.
Information does not build confidence. Reps do.
Confident Conversations© closes that gap.
Why I built this
I have had to tell people their job was gone.
You do not forget those conversations. You replay them.
The hardest part was not finding the words. It was being the person who had to say them. Steady, clear, and still human, while everything in the room pulled the other direction.
In fifteen years, not one hour of my training put me in that room before it counted.
And in every organization I have worked with since, I have watched capable leaders hit the same wall: expected to handle hard conversations they were never trained for, with no way to practice first.
You may never have to deliver that kind of news. But you have your own version of that room.
So I built what I never had: a way to learn it, practice it, and get coached on it before it counts.
Heather Haygood
Founder & Chief Leadership Strategist, HMH Solutions
How the training works
LEARN IT. PRACTICE IT. REFINE IT. THEN TAKE IT INTO THE REAL CONVERSATION.
Every week follows the same five steps, built around that week's framework, with feedback on every practice round. Go around as many times as you need before it counts.
- 1
Learn
A short weekly training and that week's framework.
- 2
Practice
Practice with AI in the Leadership Presence Lab©.
- 3
Get Feedback
The Lab gives you feedback on every practice round.
- 4
Reflect
Notice what held, what slipped, and what to try next.
- 5
Apply
Take it into a conversation already on your calendar.
↺ Not ready yet? Go again.
Go back to Practice, Get Feedback, or Reflect as many times as you need.
Why it works
The research behind every rep
67%
Fewer escalating moves
In a Stanford study, people who practiced a conflict against an AI and got feedback used 67% fewer escalating tactics in a follow-up conflict than people who studied the same material.
In the Lab
You practice against real pushback, in scenarios built from what you just learned.
Shaikh et al., Stanford University, CHI 2024
84th
Percentile compared to peers
Across 435 studies, the average person who got feedback on what to change, and how, performed better than 84% of those who got none.
In the Lab
The Lab gives you specific feedback after every round, so each attempt builds on the last.
Wisniewski, Zierer & Hattie, Frontiers in Psychology, 2020
25%
Better with structured reflection
Across 46 samples, people who reviewed their performance in a structured way after practice performed about 25% better than those who did not.
In the course
After you practice, your reflection guide helps you notice what held, what slipped, and what to try next, so the lesson stays with you.
Tannenbaum & Cerasoli, Human Factors, 2013; Keiser & Arthur, Journal of Applied Psychology, 2021
The part most courses skip
BUILT AROUND THE LEADERSHIP PRESENCE LAB©
Each week you take on a real type of leadership conversation and prepare for it using that week's framework. Then you step into the AI-powered Lab and actually run it.
The version where they get defensive. The version where they shut down. The version where it goes sideways.
By the time you are in the actual room, you have already been in one like it. Just not for real yet.
Why this is not a chatbot
A CHATBOT ANSWERS YOU. THE LAB PUSHES BACK.
A general AI chatbot
Starts from a blank page. Goes wherever you steer it. Leaves you to judge what good looked like.
The Leadership Presence Lab©
Built by an executive coach and loaded with the frameworks and tools taught in the course, including the EQ Mastery Cycle© and WEB Framework©. Each week's practice starts from the framework you just learned.
Before every session you name your own pattern under pressure, and the Lab builds the other person around it: frustrated and pushing back, cool and dismissive, defensive, or receptive but unclear. It holds that style for the whole conversation, at the difficulty you choose.
When it ends, it gives you feedback, and you can ask exactly where you hedged, softened, or lost the thread.
And the optional weekly live coaching hour is there for the real situations you are facing at work.
The practice is AI. Everything around it is built and led by a coach.
The curriculum
THE SIX-WEEK PATH
Built to change how you show up when it counts.
Week 1
YOUR INNER COMPASS
Know what is driving you before you walk in the room.
Slow down, notice your emotional patterns, and recognize the default behaviors that show up when pressure rises, so you are not reacting from stress, frustration, or avoidance.
Because the first conversation you lead is the one happening inside you.
Week 2
THE CLARITY CONVERSATION
Stop being misread and start being heard.
A simple structure for opening a conversation with direction and buy-in, without rambling, softening, or blindsiding the other person.
Because when you only have a topic, you are winging it from the first sentence.
Week 3
THE FEEDBACK CONVERSATION
Say it in a way that actually lands.
Separate facts from stories, name expectations clearly, and keep the conversation from getting hijacked by secondary issues.
Because delayed feedback does not avoid tension. It multiplies it.
Week 4
THE TOUGH CONVERSATION
Hold your ground when tension or pushback shows up.
Stay composed without becoming cold, direct without becoming harsh, and grounded without losing the relationship when emotion enters the room.
Confidence is not the absence of discomfort. It is staying intentional inside it.
Week 5
THE INFLUENCE CONVERSATION
Move people without pulling rank.
Use questions, curiosity, and strategic clarity to create alignment instead of resistance, with peers, senior leaders, and stakeholders who do not immediately agree.
The best leaders do not just communicate information. They shape understanding.
Week 6
CARRY IT FORWARD
Make intentional leadership your default, not your exception.
Integrate the tools, build a plan for future conversations, and use a simple post-conversation review that keeps working after the course ends.
The goal is not one good conversation. It is becoming the leader who can have all of them.
WHAT REALLY CHANGES IN SIX WEEKS?
You stop walking into hard conversations with a loose idea and crossed fingers.
✓ You know how to prepare.
✓ You know how to open.
✓ You know how to stay grounded when emotion shows up.
✓ You know how to give feedback without losing the thread.
✓ You know how to hold your ground without making it a battle.
✓ You know how to use questions to create clarity and influence.
You may still feel nervous. But you will not be winging it.
And that changes how people experience your leadership.
In their words
THIS IS WHAT SHOWING UP DIFFERENTLY LOOKS LIKE
"This helped me pause instead of react. Practicing, rather than just sitting in a workshop, has made a huge difference in how I show up with my team."
Lindsey
Hospitality Director
"Whoa! I admit I was skeptical, but the insights I'm gaining are unreal. Sometimes I get stuck, but I'd rather do it in a practice environment than a high-stakes leadership conversation!"
Justin
Field Manager
"This is really helping increase my confidence. I have already seen the impact outside the lab. I have a ways to go, but for the first time, I feel like I have a path to get there."
Brittany
Office Supervisor
Your instructor
Heather Haygood, founder of HMH Solutions
University Instructor
Boise State University professional leadership programs
15+ Years
Leading teams and coaching the leaders who run them
Executive Coach
Certified to work with leaders at every level
Genos EQ Practitioner
Certified in the skill under every hard conversation
YOU ARE ABOUT TO HAVE ANOTHER HARD CONVERSATION.
BUT THIS ONE IS WITH YOURSELF.
“Will this actually work?”
Yes, because you do not just learn it, you rehearse it.
Every week you learn a framework, practice it in the Leadership Presence Lab©, get feedback, and take it into a real conversation.
“But will it hold up outside the course?”
That is the whole idea.
You use it on real tension, real feedback, real pushback, real influence moments, until walking into the actual conversation feels like the second time, not the first.
If you are building this across a team, the same rhythm is what makes it hold. Every person moves through the same loop, with support along the way. Not a training day that fades in a month. A system your team keeps using long after the course ends.
“I am already busy.”
I know. And you do not need another heavy program sitting unfinished in your dashboard.
Confident Conversations© is built for working leaders. Plan for about 2 to 3 hours a week: short training, guided reflection, AI-powered practice, and application tied to conversations you are already having.
This is not extra theory. It is support for the leadership moments already on your calendar.
“What if I get stuck?”
You are not left to figure it out alone.
Weekly live applied coaching hours give you a place to ask questions, talk through challenges, and get support as you apply the work. Sometimes the difference between avoiding a conversation and handling it well is having somewhere to think it through first. That place is built in.
“I am afraid I will start strong and then fall off.”
That is exactly why this is a six-week cohort and not a content library.
A clear path. A weekly rhythm. Required practice. Real application. And a reason to keep moving.
You are not buying access to a pile of content. You are stepping into a guided practice process built to develop the skill while the momentum is still there.
IS THIS ACTUALLY FOR YOU?
It works whether you are building this skill for yourself or building it into your team. It does not work for everyone.
THIS IS FOR YOU IF
✓ You are a manager who needs to give clearer feedback
✓ You are an emerging leader preparing for more responsibility
✓ You lead a team navigating tension or misalignment
✓ You are experienced and tired of replaying conversations afterward
✓ You are in HR or L&D building a bench of managers who do not avoid the conversations that move performance
This is for you if you are done hoping the right words show up in the moment.
THIS IS NOT FOR YOU IF
✗ You want passive content you can skim and forget
✗ You are looking for scripts that remove all discomfort
✗ You want to avoid accountability, feedback, or tension altogether
✗ You are not willing to actually practice
Confident Conversations© is for leaders willing to practice. Not perfectly. Honestly. That is where confidence gets built.
YOUR INVESTMENT
What avoiding it costs
One in three employees estimate that not speaking up in a crucial moment cost their organization $25,000 or more.
Confident Conversations© costs less than 2% of that.
Crucial Learning, 2022 survey of 1,100 employees
Confident Conversations©
$497
Six weeks. Everything included:
Save My Seat - November 9 Cohort Join the December 7 CohortRisk reversal
TRY THE FIRST WEEK ON ME.
Enroll. Show up for week one. Run your first reps in the Leadership Presence Lab©.
If it is not what you expected, email me within 7 days of your cohort start date and I will refund you in full.
I can offer that because I know what happens when a leader practices before the conversation instead of replaying it afterward.
Heather Haygood, Founder & Chief Leadership Strategist, HMH Solutions
Three ways in
HOW WILL YOU JOIN?
Same course, same guarantee. Pick the path that fits.
I'm ready to enroll
$497
Six-week cohort
Pay with a personal or company card. Paying now and getting reimbursed later works too.
Starting next
Starts Monday, November 9
Enrollment closes November 8.
Schedule conflict?
Starts Monday, December 7
Enrollment closes December 6.
Holiday break the week of Dec 21. Week 3 opens early that week if you want to get a head start. Your cohort finishes the week of Jan 18.
I need approval first
Free
Employer Approval Kit
Get the tools to make the case for professional development funding.
What you get
The approval email
Written for you to copy, fill in, and send.
A one-page business case
Plus a version for K-12 schools and districts.
I'm enrolling my team
2+ leaders
Team seats or a private cohort
Tell us what you need and we will get back to you within 1 to 2 business days, by email or phone.
Upcoming cohort
Two or more leaders
Join an open cohort together.
Private cohort
10 leaders or more
Just your organization.
Every cohort carries the same guarantee: a full refund through day 7 of the cohort.
Most leaders do not pay for this themselves
IF YOUR COMPANY HAS A DEVELOPMENT BUDGET, THIS IS WHAT IT IS FOR.
The hard part was never the money. It is writing the email. So we wrote it for you.
The Employer Approval Kit
✓ The approval email, written for you to copy, fill in, and send
✓ A one-page business case with the week by week curriculum and what avoided conversations actually cost
✓ A second business case written for K-12 school and district approvers
Send it. Get approval. Come back and take your seat.
Free. We email it to you so you can forward it straight on.
For HR, L&D and organizational leaders
GIVE YOUR MANAGERS THE PRACTICE THEY NEED TO HANDLE THE CONVERSATIONS THAT MOVE PERFORMANCE.
Your managers already know they should give feedback, address conflict, and hold people accountable. You bought the seminars. You sent them to the workshops. The behavior still is not sticking, because nobody has had a place to practice before the conversation that actually counts.
Team enrollment
Two ways to bring your team
✓Seats in an upcoming cohort. Two or more leaders join an open cohort together.
✓A private cohort. 10 leaders or more, just your organization.
Book a 30-Minute CallPrefer to write? Send the details and we will reach out within 1 to 2 business days.
Or send the details
We will get back to you within 1 to 2 business days, by email or phone.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Is this a self-paced course?
How much time will this take each week?
How is this different from other difficult conversations training?
What is the Leadership Presence LabĀ©?
Isn't this just ChatGPT?
What happens to what I type in the Lab?
Do I have to use the AI Lab?
Is this for new or experienced leaders?
Is this conflict resolution training for managers?
What happens if I fall behind?
Can I get reimbursed by my employer?
Can I enroll more than one person?
STOP LEAVING YOUR LEADERSHIP PRESENCE TO CHANCE.
The conversations you avoid, soften, rush through, or replay are not small moments. They are the moments that define you.
You could keep winging it
Figure it out one conversation at a time, then replay the ones that went sideways.
You could commit to six focused weeks
Learn a new framework each week, practice it before it counts, and get feedback on every round, with weekly live coaching along the way.
Save My Seat - November 9 CohortSchedule conflict? Join the December 7 cohort.
$497 • Full refund through day 7 of your cohort
Not ready yet?
START WITH THE FREE MINI-TRAINING
Before You Walk In
The 3-Step Framework for Leaders Who Are Done Avoiding Hard Conversations
A short video training and a printable prep tool to use before your next hard conversation.
Unsubscribe anytime.
