In the years I’ve been a leader, I can honestly say the best conversations I’ve had were those in which I used a coaching approach. Instead of telling someone what to do, I asked for their thoughts and they ended up discovering the answer.
Recently I had an individual who was having an issue with a co-worker. After asking about the situation I asked a powerful question – “what would it take to make it better”. The reply led the person to realize a conversation between them was needed and went on to have that conversation. I later heard that the interaction went really well and the situation had improved.