01
Put off until it is bigger
The issue that could have been a five-minute question becomes a complaint, a resignation or a missed shipment, because nobody wanted to raise it.
Camderson Academy · CA-LM-002
Hold the hard conversations, and keep the trust.
A practical, self-paced course for managers and leaders at every level. Prepare for the conversations you have been putting off, stay steady through emotion and pushback, speak up and across, deliver bad news fairly and follow through so problems surface earlier.
About 6 hours · 18 lessons with video · Intermediate · Self-paced · Certificate of completion · 30-day money-back guarantee
Most hard conversations go wrong before anyone says a word.
02
Walked in without a plan
Without knowing what you want, what the other person might be feeling and what you will say first, the conversation turns into a debate about who is right.
03
Nothing changes afterward
Agreements without names and dates fade by Friday. People learn that raising problems with you leads nowhere, so they stop raising them.
Learning outcomes
What you will be able to do
Eight practical outcomes, each practiced in an exercise and checked in the final assessment or the capstone.
- Explain why a leader's words carry extra weight and choose the right channel for a hard message, including written set-up and follow-up.
- Listen in a way that lowers defensiveness, using the Listening Loop, follow-up questions and a talk-time log.
- Prepare for a high-stakes conversation by mapping its three layers, managing your own reactions and identifying interests, options and alternatives.
- Open a difficult conversation clearly and keep it productive through strong emotion, pushback and silence, closing with specific, dated agreements.
- Speak up to senior leaders and resolve disagreements with peers, escalating appropriately.
- Respond to a concern or complaint appropriately: receive it, be honest about confidentiality, record it, route it to HR and avoid anything that could look like retaliation.
- Deliver bad news and announce change fairly, and repair trust after your own mistake.
- Follow through on agreements and build team habits and a personal practice plan that make hard conversations happen earlier.
The Camderson method
Teaching tools for conversations that resolve issues
The Three Layers Map and the Pause Plan
What happened · Feelings · Identity · Notice · Name · Reframe · Choose
Map what is really going on for both of you, including your own contribution, and prepare a holding line for the moment you feel your reaction rising.
The Readiness Check and the Opening Frame
Purpose and facts · Their side · Me · Boundaries and follow-up · Purpose · Issue · Invitation
Score your plan before you walk in, fix the weakest section, and open with your purpose, a neutral description of the issue and a real invitation.
The Voice Ladder and the Report Response
Ask · Concern · Alternative · Disagree on the record · Escalate · Receive · Record · Route
Speak up to senior leaders one step at a time, and know exactly what to do, and what not to do, when someone brings you a concern.
The Commitments Tracker and the Close-the-Loop Review
Owner · Due date · Status · Own yours first · Check in · Re-agree or drop out loud
Turn every hard conversation into dated agreements, review them on a rhythm and own your own misses first.
Prepare well. Listen first. Follow through.
Curriculum
Inside the course
Six modules, 18 lessons with worked examples and video
01
Communication That Lands
Why a leader's words weigh more and the Weight Check, listening that lowers defenses with the Listening Loop and a talk-time log, and choosing the right channel for a hard message.
02
Preparing for High-Stakes Conversations
The three layers of every difficult conversation, managing your own reactions with the Pause Plan, and moving from positions to interests, options and alternatives.
03
Holding the Conversation
Scoring your plan with the Readiness Check, opening well in the first minute, staying steady when emotions run high, and handling pushback, silence and defensiveness.
04
Hard Conversations in Every Direction
Speaking up to senior leaders with the Voice Ladder, resolving disagreements with peers and escalating together, and responding the right way when someone brings you a concern.
05
Bad News, Change and Repair
Delivering bad news to one person with the Bad News Brief, announcing change to a group with Know, Don't Know, When, and repairing trust after your own mistake.
06
Making It Stick
Following through with the Commitments Tracker, building a team where problems surface early, and a personal practice plan that keeps the skills growing after the course.
What is included
Everything you need to prepare, hold and follow through
- 18 lessons, each with a written lesson, worked examples and diagrams, and a narrated lesson video, at your own pace
- A running example from Copperline Baking Company, a fictional commercial bakery where a production manager works through twelve weeks of hard conversations with her team, her peers and her boss
- A fillable Workbook with Try it and Reflect pages for every lesson, with practice out loud built into each exercise
- A Conversation Planner (Word) with the Three Layers Map, Interests Map, Opening Frame, Pause Plan, Bad News Brief and Repair Steps
- A Conversation Toolkit spreadsheet with a Readiness Check, talk-time log, Commitments Tracker and Conversation Log, plus a practice file with solutions
- Quick reference cards and the Copperline case pack
- An optional visual companion PDF with the course diagrams
- Knowledge checks for every module and a 20-question final assessment
- A Difficult Conversation Portfolio capstone for a real conversation or a fictional role-play, reviewed by a person
- A Camderson Academy Certificate of Completion when you pass the final assessment and the capstone
- Access to the Camderson Academy community
Is this course right for you?
This course is for you if
- You manage people at any level and have conversations you keep putting off, or that tend to go badly when you have them
- You need to disagree with your boss or a peer, respond to a concern, deliver bad news or repair trust, and you want a clear way to prepare
- You know the management basics and want to take them into higher-stakes conversations (CA-LM-001 First-Time Manager Essentials is a good foundation)
It is not the right fit if
- You are looking for a course on investigations, discipline or terminations (those belong to HR, and the course points you there)
- You need to mediate a conflict between other people (a later Camderson course, Conflict Resolution in the Workplace, covers that)
- You need legal or HR advice for a specific situation (the course points you to your HR team, a qualified HR advisor or an employment attorney)
Your instructor
Meet your instructor
Ruben Tejada
MA, MS, PHR
Managing Partner · Leadership & Organizational Effectiveness
Ruben Tejada is a strategic advisor and organizational leader whose career spans healthcare, public service, human resources, operations, and learning and development. He has advised executives and leaders on leadership development, talent development, employee experience, culture and succession planning, and has led initiatives to strengthen leadership accountability and build workforce capability. That work gives him a practical view of the conversations leaders avoid and what it takes to hold them well. In this course he helps you prepare, stay steady in the room and follow through, so hard conversations resolve issues instead of damaging trust.
About
About Camderson Academy
Camderson Academy is the education division of Camderson Advisory Services. Camderson helps leaders build organizations that work without them in the room. Everything we teach has been used in a real organization first.
Training a team?
We offer group enrollment for leadership teams and HR partners who want every manager to prepare for and hold hard conversations with the same tools and language. Email connect@camderson.com to talk through your group.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to have taken First-Time Manager Essentials?
No, but it helps. This course assumes you know basic management routines and a simple feedback structure, and it points back to CA-LM-001 First-Time Manager Essentials where that course covers a topic in more depth.
Is this only for new managers?
No. The course is built for managers and leaders at every level: shift supervisors, team leads, middle managers, directors and senior leaders. The examples include conversations with your own team, your peers and the people you report to.
How long do I have access?
Your access does not expire. We review the course regularly, and any updates are added for you at no extra cost.
How long does it take?
About 6 hours in total, including the written lessons and their videos, the Try it exercises with practice out loud, the knowledge checks, the final assessment and the capstone. Everything is self-paced.
Do I have to use a real conversation for the capstone?
No. You can prepare and role-play one of three fictional Ostrander Logistics scenarios with a partner instead. If you use a real conversation, use roles or initials only and leave out health, family, pay or disciplinary details about real people.
Is this legal or HR advice?
No. This course is general education about workplace communication, not legal, HR or mental health advice. Employment laws and company policies vary by location and employer. Follow your organization's policies, and when a conversation involves discipline, a complaint of harassment or discrimination, health, leave, accommodations, pay, safety or a possible legal issue, involve your HR team or, if there is no HR team, a qualified HR advisor or employment attorney. Lessons that mention agency guidance are dated and describe it as the agency states it; confirm current rules with HR or an employment attorney before acting.
Is the certificate accredited, or does it carry professional credit?
Neither. You receive a Camderson Academy Certificate of Completion after passing the final assessment and the capstone, a Difficult Conversation Portfolio that a person reviews. It is not an academic credential and does not carry continuing education or other professional credit.
Is there a money-back guarantee?
Yes. You are covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee. If the course is not right for you, email connect@camderson.com within 30 days of purchase and we will refund you in full. No questions asked. Your course access ends when the refund is issued.
What tools do I need?
A spreadsheet program that opens .xlsx files (Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, Apple Numbers or LibreOffice Calc), a word processor that opens .docx files and a PDF reader. All templates and practice files are included as downloads.
Prepare well. Listen first. Follow through.
Self-paced, about 6 hours, with a Workbook, a Conversation Planner, quick reference cards and a Conversation Toolkit spreadsheet to help you prepare for the conversations you have been putting off, stay steady when they get hard, and turn them into agreements that stick.
Backed by our 30-day money-back guarantee.
This course earns a Camderson Academy Certificate of Completion. It is not an academic credential and does not carry continuing education or other professional credit. This course is general education about workplace communication, not legal, HR or mental health advice. Employment laws and company policies vary by location and employer. Follow your organization's policies, and when a conversation involves discipline, a complaint of harassment or discrimination, health, leave, accommodations, pay, safety or a possible legal issue, involve your HR team or, if there is no HR team, a qualified HR advisor or employment attorney.