Crucial Conversations

With each day inundated with a thousand distortions from information technology, it is no wonder our conversational abilities are dropping worldwide.

Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler once again succeeded with a winning formula of keeping readers glued to their bestseller, Crucial Conversations.

Crucial Conversations, Tools for talking when stakes are high, is a refreshing, very informative and absolutely essential book. It explores dynamic discussions between two or more people with one set of skills that could virtually influence every domain of our lives. Especially the part of our lives as the authors explain, when stakes are high, opinions vary and emotions run strong. Although Stephen Covey, author of THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE teaches readers, he also suggests within his foreword in this book, that the book has defining moments and factual underpinnings that could transform people and relationships.

Throughout the book I have discovered three fundamental elements that stood out, depicting a desired selection of how we face crucial conversations in our daily lives. We can do one of three things: We can avoid them, we can face them and handle them poorly or we can face them and handle them well. While I would go as far as to say everyone reads this book to secure a healthy dialogue, Crucial Conversations is definitely worth buying as a fun, factual and everyday read.

The book furthermore highlights valuable and learnable techniques of how we as humans can effectively steer parallel to new dimensions of a bonding discussion that results in purposeful attitudes. Discussions that would generate a steadfast enhancement of our motives as well as a firmly directed growth-path in the application of any sales driven environment.  Discussions that are “persuasive” and not “abrasive”. The authors place emphasis on real-life references to studies of individuals and how they have articulated themselves in heated conversations.  Each chapter is headed by a line describing the unique sign-language the authors have invented to communicate intricate facts of dialogue. I often had to stop reading to think about how our conversations can actually make us our own worst enemies. Step-by-step, this breakthrough publication continues to outline how effective communications can springboard casual conversations to crucial ones. Having reached halfway, I’ve come across a chapter that interestingly speaks about the invaluable control of our emotion. Rather than handling conversations with a prosaic “fighting-fist”, Crucial Conversations reminds us constantly to approach them with gentle assertiveness and attentiveness. The bestseller educates us in a direction of creatively reengaging our brains by means of masking, - avoiding, and withdrawing conversations. By controlling, - labelling and attacking conversations we undergo a dual-processing sphere that inevitably attracts a very horrific shoe-fitting scenario.

The arguable truths in the book are so many, so varied that the reader will be positively influenced, motivated to want to communicate effectively when it matters most and be entirely inspired. Inspired not only by, as received, the “tools for talking when stakes are high” but also by an infinitive energy that urges us to continue reading. Crucial Conversations tells us how to make it safe to talk about almost anything through a constant, conceptual, conversational and literacy practice. Uniquely and ironically though, the authors reiterate that practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.

This ever so imperative hardback is a clear investment to our personal and professional development. It most definitely has a special place in my bookshelf.  A must-read for discerning business developers, motivational speakers and telephone sales executives. The authors Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler have respectively written award-winning management and training programmes, implemented corporate change initiatives, cofounded numerous executive leadership centres, strengthened organisational growth, solidified families and careers, healed struggling communities and taught millions the skill of mastering their own high-stakes discussions.

With a book niftily executed, the authors possess a complete ability to provide one with the proper tools to excel when stakes are high. An online version of Crucial Conversations is available on www.crucialconversations.com . Highly recommended to anyone interested in learning about effective ways to communicate effortlessly during the most crucial conversations.

Rudolph G. W. Balie