I heard about the book "Crucial Conversations" by Kerry Patters, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler from a friend who works in Atlanta. He said it was all the rage in Atlanta right now. I hadn't heard of it, so I'm either ahead of the curve or way behind it. It was published in 2002, so there's a strong chance I'm reviewing a book that was cool seven years ago. Even still...This book is written to help spouses, roommates, businessmen, parents, and children communicate better in conversations that involve different opinions, high stakes, and high emotion. The principles they point out are helpful whether you're having a conversation with a roommate who leaves his socks on the floor in the living room, or an employee who is under-performing in their role.
This book helps you understand why some conversations go well, and some go poorly. Their advice won't be a surprise to most readers - there's nothing new under the sun. But these authors arrange helpful advice in such a way that is extremely helpful.
"Crucial Conversations" will help you go into difficult conversations with confidence, create environments that are safe for dialogue, deal with strong emotions that come when you're attacked, hurt, or scared during conversations, understand your goal alongside the goal(s) of other parties, in order to ultimately move a conversation toward a decision.
It's no wonder the people in Atlanta are excited about this book; it should make a comeback in Texas as well. If you lack confidence or skill in having difficult, emotionally-charged conversations with people you care about (or don't care about, for that matter), these guys can really help you.
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