My 27-year-old son moved in with me and my husband before the pandemic and planned to buy a house last spring. He has since enrolled in grad school and it’s now a seller’s market, so he is still here. The problem is that we have a four-bedroom house, and we want it all to ourselves.
We overhauled our two most popular courses—Crucial Conversations and Crucial Accountability—with one objective: to demonstrate how timeless skills can be applied to today’s challenges. We refreshed everything from the videos to the practice scenarios to the slides and images. We are so excited for you to see and experience our new courses—Crucial Conversations for Mastering Dialogue and Crucial Conversations for Accountability.
I have a direct report. He is very volatile, not at all a team player. Everyone gets along great in the department except him. He always tries to point out everyone’s faults but not his own. He is very difficult to talk to. How can I overcome this?
Dear Joseph, I have a stubborn stepson who refuses to speak with his father. He thinks his father doesn’t love him, which is not so. What can I say to him so he’ll open up? Signed,Getting Through Dear Getting Through, First, with no background about your stepson’s life, history with dad, or relationship with you, …
What approach can you take when someone believes that hurting others (insulting, accusing, and so on) is good and right and helps the other person become better?
I have employees who have respect issues with their peers and leaders. How can I as a manager lead everyone to work with respect and understanding for others?
My supervisor is intimidated by me and is unable to have a solid conversation with me because he’s worried I will be confrontational. How can I have a Crucial Conversation with him so that he won’t avoid talking with me?
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”?
During our company meetings, leaders often try to get input on various questions but very rarely does anyone respond. It has become such an issue that the CEO recently offered $20 to anyone who contributes. That’s one issue. A second issue is that when nobody responds, leaders will often say something like, “Really?! Nobody has anything to say?!”
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.
