Women Leaders Difficult Conversations: The SHARES Framework Kerry Siggins Uses to Build Trust

Last updated: August 27, 2026

Trusted by leaders at Stanford University, Ernst & Young, Autodesk, MGM Grand Resorts, and Farmers Insurance

Executive Summary: Most women leaders avoid difficult conversations to protect relationships — and that avoidance is what actually destroys trust. StoneAge CEO Kerry Siggins built the six-step SHARES framework after a piece of brutal feedback changed her leadership. Here’s exactly how it works.

Quick Takeaways:

• Difficult conversations delayed almost always get harder, not easier, over time
• The SHARES framework has six steps you can prepare in under ten minutes
• Organizations with regular feedback see 14.9% lower turnover rates
• Wanting to “be right” is the single biggest killer of workplace trust
• Feedback without a credible next step leaves people hopeless, not motivated

Jump to: Why It Happens · The SHARES Framework · Examples · Action Plan · FAQ

As an executive leadership coach with over 30 years of experience (MA, MFT, PCC) working with Fortune 50–1000 companies, I hear the same confession from brilliant, accomplished women leaders almost every week: “I know I need to have this conversation. I just keep putting it off.” If you’ve been carrying a difficult conversation you haven’t had yet — with a direct report, a peer, a boss, even a spouse — you are in very good company, and it is costing you more than you think.

On this episode of the Women’s Leadership Success Podcast, I sat down with Kerry Siggins, CEO of StoneAge (an employee-owned manufacturer of high-pressure water jetting equipment) and author of the new book Talk With Trust: How to Own Feedback, Spark Growth, and Build Stronger Teams. Kerry built her career on hard conversations — including one that nearly ended her leadership before it began. What she learned from it became the SHARES framework, a six-step system for women leaders navigating difficult conversations without torching the relationship in the process.