Leadership Social Media and Updates

Avoiding Tough Talks Costs $7,500 and Days

Every tough conversation you avoid costs your company $7,500 and 8 lost work days. That's not my opinion. That's VitalSmarts research across thousands of organizations. Now multiply that by how many conversations your leadership team dodged this month. The most successful companies I know have 10+ tough conversations per week. Not because they enjoy conflict — because they know what happens when you avoid it. Two real ones from the last 90 days at my company: I told an executive: "If this feedback isn't going to stick, if you're not willing to talk to customers and experience their problems firsthand, you can't advance to what we need you to be. If you wanted to resign today, I'd be very understanding." Told another person we were hiring someone above them. Not because they failed — because the role outgrew what they could deliver and we weren't getting what we needed. Both conversations sucked. Both made the company stronger. The companies having zero tough conversations per week? Look at the chart. One single dot. That's the "we're all good here" crowd — and they're quietly dying while pretending everything's fine. Nice isn't kind. Nice is avoiding the hard stuff to protect your own comfort. Kind is telling someone the truth while there's still time to act on it. Count up the tough conversations your team had this week. If you're under 5, you're leaving growth on the table. For more on AI, business, and marketing, just comment "newsletter."