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Mastering Difficult Conversations: Building Trust and Emotional Intelligence for Effective Management

Course Aim

To equip people managers with the confidence, skills, and emotional competencies needed to manage difficult conversations effectively, fostering an environment of trust, empathy, and high performance within their teams.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this 2-day workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Understand Emotional Intelligence:

  • Define and explain the components of Emotional Intelligence (EI)
  • Articulate the importance of EI in managerial roles and its impact on team dynamics.
 

2. Develop Self-Awareness and Self-Regulation:

  • Conduct self-assessments to identify personal emotional triggers and responses
  • Apply strategies to manage and regulate their emotions in the workplace.
 

3. Understand and Utilize Personality Types:

  • Identify different personality types using the DISC model
  • Adapt their communication styles to effectively interact with different personality types.
 

4. Balance Personal and Professional Boundaries:

  • Recognize the challenges of managing friends and colleagues
  • Implement strategies to maintain professional boundaries while supporting team members.
 

5. Develop and Demonstrate Empathy:

  • Understand the importance of empathy in leadership
  • Practice empathy mapping to gain deeper insights into team members’ perspectives and needs.
 

6. Apply the RESA Model of Influence:

  • Introduce and apply the RESA model (Rapport, Empathise, Sell, Agree) to influence and persuade effectively
  • Build and strengthen rapport and trust within their teams.
 

7. Conduct Courageous Conversations:

  • Prepare for and conduct difficult conversations in an empowering and trust-building manner
  • Use role-playing exercises to practice and refine their approach to challenging discussions.
 

8. Manage and Resolve Conflicts:

  • Identify and implement conflict resolution strategies
  • Use techniques to de-escalate tense situations and find mutually beneficial solutions.
 

9. Create a Culture of Open Communication:

  • Encourage continuous feedback and open dialogue within their teams
  • Develop actionable steps to build a supportive and trusting team environment.
 

This course will provide a comprehensive, interactive, and practical learning experience, ensuring that participants leave with the confidence and skills needed to handle difficult conversations effectively.

Contact Us

Please help us serve you better by sharing the following information.

 

Delivery Format

Live online or live in-person.

Who should Attend?

People managers, team leaders, and supervisors who are responsible for managing staff and are seeking to enhance their ability to handle challenging conversations with emotional intelligence and effectiveness.

Duration

2 days (16 Hours).

Andrew Davey

Andrew is a Master Trainer and Executive Coach known for helping organisations shift from transactional leadership to emotionally intelligent cultures. A Tony Robbins Mastery graduate, Certified Life Coach, and MBA holder, he empowers leaders to unlock clarity, resilience, and purpose.

Dominic Siow

Co-founder and EQ Alchemist at EQ Strategist, Dom has inspired leaders and transformed cultures across 260+ organisations in 10 countries. He is the author of the Amazon best-seller *What’s GREAT About This?* and host of the *Inspiring Leadership* podcast.

Sue Siow

Co-founder and Director of EQ Strategist, Sue is known for her calm presence, strategic clarity, and deep empathy. With a background in information systems and advanced leadership training, she has supported leadership journeys for global clients across Asia-Pacific.

Caroline Crosbie

Caroline is a sought-after trainer and psychologist based in Perth, delivering experiential leadership and wellbeing programs. With expertise in resilience, work-life integration, and communication, she helps leaders sustain performance while leading with care, clarity, and balance.

Vivien Ong

Vivien is a seasoned facilitator and coach with 20+ years of corporate leadership experience. She specialises in mindful leadership, communication, and team dynamics, creating vibrant, high-trust learning environments where individuals step into leadership with clarity and voice.

Dale White

Dale is a high-impact leadership and performance coach with 19+ years of experience across government, corporate, and education. Known for his energy and practical insight, he helps leaders align strengths with strategy to drive sustainable, high-performance outcomes.

Vivien Ong

Vivien Ong is a seasoned leadership facilitator, coach, and trainer known for helping professionals grow into self-aware, courageous and impactful leaders. With over 20 years of corporate experience in sectors such as banking, telecommunications, BPO, and media,

Vivien brings a strategic yet deeply human lens to leadership development. At EQ Strategist, she facilitates programmes in mindful leadership, communication, psychological safety and team dynamics. Celebrated for her vibrant facilitation style, she combines energy, empathy, and practical insight to spark meaningful dialogue where learning and growth happen. She also mentors youth through a social enterprise and serves in the leadership team at the

Contact Centre Association of Singapore, where she advocates for better leadership and service standards. Her work is rooted in the belief that better leadership builds a better world. Through storytelling, behavioural tools, and reflective practice, she helps individuals step into leadership with presence, clarity, and voice. Vivien’s clients value her ability to create high-trust environments where people feel seen, heard, and empowered to lead from within.

Caroline Crosbie

Caroline is a sought-after trainer and psychologist who brings warmth, depth, and structure to leadership and wellbeing programmes. At EQ Strategist, she delivers experiential learning focused on resilience, work-life integration, and effective communication. Her academic background includes a Master of Clinical Psychology and certifications in Extended DISC, NLP, and EFT. Caroline’s clients appreciate her thoughtful approach to coaching and her ability to simplify complex psychological principles into actionable steps. With professional experience in five countries, she brings a culturally attuned perspective to her facilitation. Her goal is to help individuals and teams sustain performance without burning out—leading with insight, care, and clarity.

Dale White

“Real transformation doesn’t come from more information—it comes from aligned action.”

Dale White is a high-impact, outcome-focused leadership and performance coach, known for his energy, strategy and ability to drive real change. With 19+ years of experience helping professionals perform at their highest potential & a background in business, behavioural psychology, and high-performance coaching, Dale supports leaders to build clarity, confidence, and resilience in both work and life. At EQ Strategist, Dale facilitates training & coaching that blend behavioural insight, personal mastery, and practical implementation. His sessions are known for being dynamic, personalised, and results-focused – ensuring participants take real-world action that sticks. Dale holds degrees in Business and Exercise Science, and certifications in NLP, PCM, and Robbins Leadership Mastery. Whether supporting government departments, corporate leaders, guiding frontline teams or values-driven founders, Dale’s mission is to help people cut through theory and lead with purpose.

Jack Rankin

Jack Rankin is a high-impact trainer, executive coach, and culture catalyst with over 1,500 workshops delivered globally. His client portfolio includes leading names across government, finance, insurance, construction, and retail. At EQ Strategist, Jack helps organisations strengthen leadership capability, stakeholder alignment, and communication excellence. He is known for making learning engaging and actionable—tailoring each session to drive meaningful outcomes. His past clients include Singapore Airlines, Rio Tinto, Visa Westfield, Nike, Schneider Electric, and City of Parramatta Council. Jack is a Tony Robbins Leadership Mastery graduate and serves on the Synergistic Results Leadership team. Through each programme, he inspires individuals to elevate how they speak, lead, and influence.

Sue Siow

With a heart for people and a sharp strategic lens, Sue Siow co-founded EQ Strategist to help individuals and organisations flourish from the inside out. As Operations Director, she ensures the seamless delivery of high-impact programs while supporting clients with insight, empathy, and practical wisdom.

In addition to leading operations and client experience, Sue is also a skilled Facilitator and Participant Coach—contributing to larger workshops through 1-on-1 coaching, small group facilitation, and experiential team-building segments. Her calm, grounding presence invites reflection, trust, and personal growth.

With a background in Information Systems and advanced training from Tony Robbins’ Mastery University, Sue has supported programs across Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, China, and Indonesia for clients including Sembcorp, Esker, DBS Bank, Changi Airport Group, FedEx, Yokogawa, and AirAsia.

Dominic Siow

“Be the light or the mirror that reflects it.”

These words define Dominic Siow’s approach to life and leadership. As a globally recognised leadership facilitator, keynote speaker, coach, and co-founder of EQ Strategist, Dom is known for helping people reconnect with their purpose, lead with heart, and create cultures where everyone can thrive.

Drawing on senior leadership experience from IBM and Grapevine Technologies, he has spent the past two decades empowering over 260 organisations across 10 countries—from multinational corporations to public sector agencies and values-driven startups.

Dom’s facilitation style is equal parts insight, empathy, and inspiration. Whether leading a leadership retreat, designing a culture transformation program, or coaching executives through complexity, he helps people become not just better leaders, but better human beings.

He is the author of the Amazon bestselling book What’s GREAT About This?—a guide to building resilience through disruption—and the host of the Inspiring Leadership Podcast, where he shares real stories of growth and grit.

For Dom, leadership is not about titles. It’s about helping others find their light—and reflecting it back so they can shine.

Andrew Davey

At EQ Strategist, Andrew Davey is known for helping organisations move from transactional leadership to purposeful, emotionally intelligent cultures. As a master trainer and trusted coach, he brings a rare blend of business insight, coaching expertise, and facilitation mastery. Andrew’s clients span industries from logistics and software to government and education. He is a Tony Robbins Mastery University graduate, a Certified Life Coach, NLP Master Practitioner, and MBA holder. His mission is to empower leaders to unlock clarity, strengthen resilience, and lead inspired teams that drive results. Andrew delivers programs that are practical, energising, and deeply human—enabling sustained transformation at both the individual and organisational level.