In this episode, I sit down with Dianna Anderson, CEO and co-founder of Cylient, and one of the early pioneers in the coaching profession. Dianna brings decades of experience helping leaders step into the conversations they most want to avoid, and shows why those conversations are often the ones that matter most.

We talk about the real cost of the conversation that doesn’t happen. Not just in dollars, but in stalled initiatives, broken trust, and teams that never quite move forward. Dianna challenges the idea that coaching is a “nice to have” and reframes it as a practical way to help people think, choose, and act differently when complexity is high.

A major part of our conversation centers on Dianna’s Untying the Knot framework. A simple but powerful way to approach sticky conversations one layer at a time. Instead of trying to force agreement, we explore how leaders can slow things down, build shared understanding, and create enough trust to move forward together.

We also dig into what really gets in the way of productive dialogue: fear, outdated leadership habits, and the urge to treat people like problems to be fixed. Dianna explains why curiosity, compassion, and calm are not soft skills, but essential leadership tools in today’s unpredictable environment.

If you lead people through tension, disagreement, or change and especially if you feel pressure to “just get results”, this episode offers practical ways to think differently about conversations, conflict, and the human side of leadership.

Get in touch with Dianna: https://www.cylient.com/contact-us/

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