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 …

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ron McMillan is coauthor of four bestselling books, Change Anything, Crucial Conversations, Crucial Confrontations, and Influencer. READ MORE The following article was first published on July 14, 2004. Dear Crucial Skills, What do you do when you don’t know for sure what the problem is? All you know is that there is …

Dear Crucial Skills, What if you know you blew it in a crucial conversation, know you should go back and clean up the mess, but you don’t want to? What if you are too angry/hurt to say you’re sorry without feeling like a hypocrite for saying it because how you really feel is angry and …

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! …

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Al Switzler is coauthor of four New York Times bestsellers, Change Anything, Crucial Conversations, Crucial Confrontations, and Influencer. READ MORE Dear Authors, I recently found out that someone who was a confidante and a friend has been speaking badly about me to our mutual mentor. My relationship with this mentor has been …

Dear Crucial Skills, The department that I work in has recently hired a new manager. He sent out his first big change this week. He has decided that everyone in my position should now work 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. as our standard working hours. For the last fifteen years people in the department have been able …

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, …

Dear Authors, My husband left me for someone else nine months ago. We have two children, both in middle school. We have worked out a child custody schedule where he has the kids every other weekend and we have traded off vacation times during the school year. He now is asserting he wants to have …