Dear Crucial Skills, I was wondering if you could address how to make it safe to discuss something when certain answers really are going to result in very bad consequences? I understand the need to master my stories, but sometimes the truthful answer is the one with negative consequences. For example: You suspect an employee …
Dear Crucial Skills, I’m faced with having to fire someone for the first time in my career. What advice would you give on handling this very crucial conversation? Signed, Hesitating Dear Hesitating, Firing someone is never easy. It shouldn’t be. Whenever someone is unilaterally separated from his or her income stream, it’s likely to cause …
Dear Crucial Skills, I would like to ask about dealing with workplace bullying, and how middle managers handle it from the top? New York State just adopted a bill to address workplace bullying, which has become the “new” harassment “just under the waterline” methodology. I would love to hear from you and would offer that …
I miss strawberries. Despite the fact that my acquaintance with them started quite by accident, I still miss them. Here’s how it all started. One day when my best friend Bobby Kaiser and I were playing in the woods behind my house, we stumbled onto a small patch of wild strawberries. They didn’t appear all that promising.
Dear Crucial Skills, I work in a cubicle environment and sit next to a man who has a personal hygiene problem that is very hard to ignore. He’s a peer of mine—should I address this issue? And if so, how do I do it appropriately? He’s infamous in the office—everyone knows it seems, except him! …
Dear Crucial Skills, I work in a close office. One of my colleagues uses Crucial Conversations and Crucial Confrontations “techniques” as manipulation tools. We all have read the books and subscribe to your newsletter to keep up. We usually have an open relationship, but when it comes to what this colleague perceives as “moving up” …
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kerry Patterson is coauthor of four New York Times bestsellers, Crucial Conversations, Crucial Accountability, Influencer, and Change Anything. READ MORE Listen to Kerrying On via iTunes Recently, several popular magazines have published articles lamenting the loss of the “family meal.” Research suggests that less than half of all families eat three or …
Listen to Kerrying On via iTunes This past week I’ve spent every single evening in the hospital visiting my mother-in-law who recently broke her hip. For me a hospital is a scary place to visit—dredging up childhood images of needle pokings, haunting screeches, and indelicate probings of all kinds. My company’s recent research into the …
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kerry Patterson is coauthor of four New York Times bestsellers, Change Anything, Crucial Conversations, Crucial Confrontations, and Influencer. READ MORE Dear Authors, I am part of a volunteer networking organization that is suffering severe growing pains. Our president is the type of person who can get things going with her enthusiasm, but …
Dear Crucial Skills, I agree that when you’re talking with someone about a high stakes issue you need to move from silence or violence to healthy dialogue. But what if you’re married to a guy who doesn’t want to talk? Then what? How do you communicate with a non-responsive spouse? Signed, Silent Spouse Dear Silent, …
