Your advice for dealing with conflict often involves trying to see the other person as “reasonable and rational.” But what if this person is clearly not reasonable and rational. What if they are simply unable to listen, to reason, and to carry out any kind of agreement on how to “get along”? What if they can neither conceive of nor agree to “ground rules”?
I am 63½ and considering retirement next year. The key word here is “considering.” I have not finalized my decision. Recently my supervisor asked if I was over 60 and if I was going to retire. It caught me off guard. I mentioned that I was concerned that talking about retirement would label me as a “short-timer” and limit my ability to further my training and projects. I told her I had seen this happen to others in the company. I assured her I was not planning to retire this year and the discussion was dropped.
In this short video, Joseph Grenny offers three tips for keeping political conversations out of the workplace. Confirm whether it’s a problem. You might run a survey to see how many have been affected by political conversations and determine whether a sizable portion of your team would like to see them stop. If so… Don’t …
Chronic procrastination is ruining my career plans. How can I change?
My house is the place family chooses to gather for the holiday. This Thanksgiving I wanted to make sure everyone was safe so I told them we would not be having a family gathering. The family showed up anyway, each with a reason why it was okay for them to come. How do you lovingly shut the door to uninvited guests who are putting you at risk?
Dear Joseph, How should I respectfully approach a co-worker about her pungent perfume? I can tell she’s been down the hall even after she’s been gone for five or ten minutes. The scent lingers and is foul to me; after encountering it I begin to feel nauseous. She’s a very popular and pleasant person. Except …
Dear Joseph, What had the biggest impact on you writing Crucial Conversations? Signed, Backstory Dear Backstory, Thanks for asking! Your question gave me a chance to walk down memory lane. The Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard said, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” Looking back, I can see experiences that …
Dear Joseph, I have a dear male friend. We are romantically involved in a long-distance relationship across different time zones. Our main means of communication are texting and phone, or video talking. We usually talk one to two hours a day—late at night for him, and after work for me. However, our conversations often turn …
Joseph Grenny, coauthor of Crucial Conversations, shares tips for responding to strong opinions. Learn to gracefully and politely draw boundaries for the conversation.
