There’s a quiet skill that great managers share. It’s not about always knowing the answer or keeping everyone upbeat.
It’s about being able to say:
“This is hard — and we can still find a way through.”
Across public sector teams, those conversations matter more than ever. Because resilience doesn’t come from pretending everything’s fine, it comes from creating space for honesty and hope to coexist.
So how do you talk about what’s difficult without draining the room or tipping into toxic positivity?
You build a balance: strengths and struggles, side by side.
Why We Avoid ‘Hard’ Conversations (and Why That Hurts Resilience)
Many teams especially in fast-moving, high-pressure environments like healthcare, local government, and higher education, skip the tough conversations for two reasons:
- To protect morale (“I don’t want to make things worse”)
- To protect time (“We don’t have capacity for reflection right now”)
But when teams avoid the hard stuff, it doesn’t disappear. It just shows up elsewhere in disengagement, burnout, or quiet frustration.
Talking about what’s hard, with compassion and curiosity, builds trust. And trust is the foundation of team resilience.
Related reading: How to Help Your Team Stay Positive Through Change
The Strengths + Struggles Approach
This approach recognises that both perspectives belong in every conversation.
If You Focus Only on Struggles… If You Focus Only on Strengths…
You risk fatigue, frustration, or helplessness You risk glossing over real issues
People might feel unseen or unheard People might feel pressure to “stay positive”
Progress feels heavy Positivity feels performative
But when you hold both, something shifts.
You get honesty and momentum. Clarity and care.
That’s what we mean by “strengths and struggles.”
A “Conversation Menu” for Managers
If you want your team to be open, curious and constructive, you need to model it first. Here’s a simple menu of questions you can use to explore both sides of the story.
Start with What’s Hard (Safely)
Use these to acknowledge reality and invite reflection:
- What’s been toughest this week — and why?
- What’s feeling unclear or draining right now?
- What do you need more support with?
- What’s one small thing that could make this easier?
Then Explore Strengths and Resources
Help your team recognise what’s still working:
- What’s helping you cope at the moment?
- When things go well here, what makes that possible?
- Who or what do you rely on when things feel tough?
- What strengths have you used to get through challenges like this before?
And End With Forward Momentum
Close with constructive, shared action:
- What’s one thing we can try differently next time?
- What would make this challenge feel more manageable?
- What are we learning from this that’s worth keeping?
- What’s one strength we can lean on more next week?
This structure - acknowledge, recognise, move forward - helps you hold space for both truth and optimism.
It’s not about fixing everything. It’s about helping people see that difficult doesn’t mean hopeless.
Related reading: Turning Setbacks Into Success: Strengths for Team Growth
Why These Conversations Build Resilient Teams
According to Frontiers in Psychology, inclusive and strengths-focused conversations help people in challenging environments reframe difficulties not as failures, but as moments of learning, adaptation and shared resilience.
That’s exactly what strong public sector teams do:
They turn honesty into energy, reflection into recovery, and feedback into collective growth.
Also read: How to Build a Team That Thrives in Uncertain Times
Final Thought: Hope Isn’t Fragile — It’s Fuel
Hope doesn’t mean ignoring what’s hard.
It means believing there’s still something to build from.
When teams can talk about both the struggles and the strengths, they stay connected, creative and courageous even when things don’t go to plan.
And that’s what keeps them going.
How Strengthify Can Help
We help public sector teams find that balance — supporting honest conversations that build trust, confidence and shared resilience.
Here’s how we can help you start:
- Strengths Discovery Sessions:
Help individuals reconnect with what energises them and how to use that to handle challenges more sustainably. - Team Development Workshops:
Build safe spaces for open reflection, team feedback and collective resilience. - Management Development Programme:
Equip leaders to navigate difficult conversations and lead with hope, empathy and practical tools.
Every Strengthify session is crafted with you — designed to fit your pressures, people and pace.
Start a conversation with us.