The most effective people in history accomplished great things not on their own strength, but on the inter-workings of many different people coming together to build the best outcomes.

One person alone can never consider all the different perspectives. We each need different thinking styles to work together in order for us to do our individual and collective best work.

But all these differences can open up disagreements and misunderstandings. It can be challenging to slow down, to listen well, and to be curious about why someone holds their perspective — especially when there's a lot riding on the line.

Tough conversations are, well...tough. Some people have no problem tackling them head on. Others avoid them. Others may not notice them. The thing that makes them tough is the different perspectives that we’re trying to communicate in different ways, and aren’t sure how to understand the other person, or make them understand us.

One of us might be asking questions to strengthen the details, while the other is pushing for momentum. One of us may be concerned with buy-in while the other is trying to test as many options as possible.

The thing is, we all want the best outcome. And these points where we notice tension can actually be an opportunity to create something better together than we could on our own.

When you are curious and see how the other person makes decisions, thinks, and works best (all of which can be found in their Cloverleaf profile), then you can be freed to learn how to leverage these differences to create work you're deeply proud of.

So the next time you find yourself unable to effectively persuade and feel the challenge rising, here are two simple ways you can use Cloverleaf to be curious about what's really happening beneath the surface:

Go to your team dashboard and pair yourself and the other(s) side by side in the relationship map.

Notice where you have similarities and differences.

Try switching between the assessment selected, as different assessments provide different perspectives on motivation and goals.

When viewing a teammate's profile, you can pull up different insight categories. Try this with Persuasion.

Notice how this person makes their decisions. Are they swayed by understanding the impact on people, or are they more concerned about logic and making sure there are no holes in the details?

Do they focus on the possibilities of the future, or on how past events have proven the next best step?

You can also click through to your profile following the same steps above to compare how you are persuaded. Isn't it funny how we sometimes don't realize this about ourselves?