What You'll Learn In Today's Episode:

• Recognize the parent, adult, and child communication patterns Greg describes to better understand your own reactions.
• Ask sincere questions to create understanding rather than assuming others know what you mean.
• Define the objective of a difficult conversation and assess whether your approach helps achieve it.
• Notice when criticism or emotional reactions lead others to withdraw or become defensive.
• Use feedback to encourage responsibility and improvement rather than to punish or make someone feel guilty.
• Pause for four seconds before responding to give yourself space to communicate more deliberately.

In this episode, Matthew Jarvis welcomes Greg Witz of Witz Education to explore why well-intended conversations can turn into frustration, conflict, or withdrawal. Greg introduces a communication framework built around parent, adult, and child ego states, explaining how recognizing these patterns can help advisors respond more intentionally. Through examples from work and family life, they discuss the limits of telling people what to do and the value of asking sincere questions that create understanding. Greg also shares how to approach feedback with a clear objective, take responsibility for your communication, and use a four-second pause before reacting. The conversation offers practical ways to improve interactions with clients, team members, and the people closest to you.