De-escalate the angry CTO without surrendering the facts
Use active listening moves to acknowledge emotion, clarify facts, and preserve boundaries in an escalation.
High heat The CTO challenges your team's competence in front of executives during a failed cutover. Defensiveness escalates the room. Appeasement creates false promises. Active listening gives you a third move. Active listening Acknowledge, clarify, boundary Good listening helps the other person feel understood while improving the quality of the facts. In an escalation, that means empathy plus diagnostic discipline. Reflex Defend the team or promise too much Lower heat and better evidence. Listening is strongest when it makes the next fact easier to find. 01 Impact 02 Facts 03 Now you try Step 1 The CTO says the failed…
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