The sentence that unlocks any difficult conversation

There is something most of us do in important conversations that sabotages the outcome before we even begin.

We go in loaded.

With our argument ready.
Our proposal polished.
Our answers rehearsed.

We listen… but only halfway.
Waiting for our turn.

And the other person feels it.

They may not be able to name it.
But something doesn’t flow.

Jack Schafer, a former FBI agent, observed a simple way to flip this dynamic.

Not a negotiation tactic.
Not a persuasion trick.

A sentence.

Instead of leading with what you want to say, try this:

“It seems like…”

That’s it.

No question.
No pressure.
No attempt to be clever.

Just an observation.

“It seems like timing is what really matters here.”
“It seems like there’s something we’re not saying.”
“It seems like this is more complex than it looks.”

What happens next is the interesting part.

People start explaining.
Clarifying.
Revealing what actually matters.

Without being asked.

For a General Counsel, this is not a communication trick.

It’s leverage.

Because your real job is not to answer the question the business asks.

It’s to understand whether that is the right question in the first place.

And that only happens when people show you what’s underneath.

The best GCs don’t dominate conversations.

They shape them.

They create space.
They lower defenses.
They see what others miss.

And over time, that compounds into something bigger:

Influence.
Trust.
Judgment.

The kind that moves you from “legal advisor”…
to Strategic CLO.
And, eventually, to someone who could run the whole business.

Become Strategic Now