Sidebar Speaker Series: Being Ready: Leading High-Stakes Conversations that Matter with Nicole Alos
Some leaders prepare for a difficult conversation, if at all, by preparing for the hard moment. But when the stakes are high, the words are only part of what determines whether the conversation goes well.
The conversations that shape teams, relationships, and careers require something more: the ability to manage your own response, get clear on what matters, understand what may be happening for the person across from you, and communicate with enough candor to move the conversation forward.
In this session, executive coach and leadership advisor Nicole Alos shares the approach she uses to prepare leaders for the conversations where the outcome matters significantly. You’ll learn how to recognize and regulate the threat response that can take over in difficult moments, clarify what you actually need the conversation to accomplish, and enter it with greater intention rather than relying on a script.
Nicole will also introduce the Center for Creative Leadership’s SBI model, as a practical structure for communicating the hard thing clearly while leaving room for dialogue, context, and relationship.
Who should attend:
This session is for anyone who manages people, leads teams, or regularly engages in conversations with high stakes and impact that extends beyond the moment. That might include giving difficult feedback, resetting expectations, addressing performance, navigating conflict, advocating for yourself, influencing a senior stakeholder, repairing trust, or having an important conversation during a career transition.
You’ll walk away with:
A different way to prepare for high-stakes conversations, one that focuses on your readiness before you focus on your script
A practical approach to staying clear and intentional when the conversation gets uncomfortable, rather than letting your threat response take over
A structure for delivering a difficult message with both candor and care, so you can address what matters without losing sight of the person or the relationship
Speaker Bio:
Nicole Alos, ICF-PCC, CEC is a leadership advisor and the founder of Socratyc, where she partners with senior leaders and enterprise L&D teams to develop leadership, strengthen team dynamics, and navigate the conversations that make or break both.
She is also the creator of Socratyc Sidekick, AI-powered readiness platform that lets leaders rehearse high-stakes conversations against realistic personas and receive scored feedback before the real thing.
Her adoption of AI been pivotal for her in becoming one of the few solo founders in Gener8tor and Meta’s first VC accelerator program and was chosen for Lovable’s SheBuilds program, Season 3