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Vault course 14 of 18 · 5 lessons · 18 min · video
Being Assertive in Challenging Situations
Assertiveness is easy when the room agrees with you. This course is for when it doesn't: pushback from your CEO, a hostile peer, a board member who dismisses your plan, a promotion case turned down, and the ownership that keeps you steady through all of them.
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Narrated by Andreas Pettersson. Built from the Leaders ADAPT library with Martha Spalding.
Lessons
- 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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.