I have a son who is a terrible listener. He monopolizes the conversation. If I question a statement he has made, he becomes quite defensive and sometimes angry. He is very rigid in his thinking and beliefs. How would you suggest I handle this situation?

For the past several months I’ve been working on a project in collaboration with a director from another department. A chief of staff has expressed concern about why it’s taking so long and has inserted herself into the process. She’s trying to help, but her way of managing the situation is to communicate with me and the director separately via email. Once I realized this, I responded to her and copied the director so we’d all be on the same page. In her NEXT email, the chief of staff indicated she had again communicated with us separately. I’m flummoxed about how to address this. How do I let the chief of staff know that splitting communications results in lack of shared understanding, a sense of powerlessness, and decreased collaboration and unity, even though it may be efficient for her to complete tasks?

My niece recently turned 18 and is planning to schedule an elective double mastectomy. For the past few years she has identified as non-binary, then she legally changed her name, and more recently she has started taking estrogen blockers that make her voice low. Her dad and mom think that she’s brave and strong. My mom is 100% supportive. I think they’re all insane, and I’ve told them perhaps she’s just confused and that maybe we should encourage her to postpone having body parts surgically removed. They think I’m being intolerant and unsupportive. I haven’t shared my concerns with my niece, but I think I need to try to stop her. Should I keep my mouth shut and watch from the sidelines, or tell her what I really think? If so, how?

Do you think children could use the skills taught in Crucial Conversations? If so, do you have any suggestions for how I might adapt the lessons for them?

I appreciated your recent article, “How to Tell an Employee They Talk Too Much.” Would you approach this situation in the same way if it were your boss who talks too much? Or what would you do differently?

Can walking away from a personal or professional relationship ever be the best solution?