Being Assertive in Challenging Situations

Your course, one useful move at a time.

1. 1When the CEO pushes back in front of the room
   How to answer criticism from your CEO in a live meeting: listen, clarify, acknowledge, then state your view once.3:41
2. 2Rejection and hostility: keep your footing
   How to take a board member's dismissal or a promotion no as data, and how to cool a hostile peer in the room.3:29
3. 3Two types of assertive leader, and when to be each
   The two modes of assertive leadership, and how to choose between them, director by director.3:45
4. 4Ownership: your directors do what you allow
   Why hesitant leadership quietly approves poor performance, and the one line test that makes ownership visible.3:44
5. 5What your avoidance is buying you
   Two questions that show why you avoid what you know you should do, and three moves to lead with ownership from here.3:34

All lessons are recorded.

How a lesson works

Each lesson is about five minutes, the slides with Andreas narrating, or audio only on your phone between meetings. It opens on one situation at the executive level, teaches one tool, and closes with your move: one thing to do before the next lesson. The full written lesson sits under the player, so you can read instead, or go back for the exact sentence you want to use.

Created and narrated by Andreas Pettersson. The narration uses an AI model of Andreas's own voice.