This is the third of the blog posts based on the top ten most read Straight Talk Tips that go to my clients each month. The tips are free and you can sign up for them here
Make a plan - speak up
Re title: Tips for holding difficult conversations
At one time or another we all face [...]
This is the second of the blog posts based on the top ten most read Straight Talk Tips that go to my clients each month. The tips are free and you can sign up for them here
Challenges and choices Re-title : How to plan better conversations
Every conversation that we hold presents challenges and choices.
The biggest [...]
This is the first of the blog posts based on the top ten most read Straight Talk Tips that go to my clients each month. The tips are free and you can sign up for them here
Moving targets re-title: How to set realistic objectives
Conventional wisdom holds that when you want people to perform at their [...]
There’s some really good news this week. I’ve had the proposal for my second Straight Talk book accepted for publication by my publisher, Random House Struik!
And there’s some really bad news! They want the manuscript by the end of January for July 2011 publication. So whatever other plans I had for the December holidays, they [...]
I have been working with a client in Lexington, Kentucky this week. It is one of the largest NGOs in the USA, serving the needs of impoverished communities in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Some of the people on my workshops were the managers of particular projects; others were from building maintenance, finance, HR and donor [...]
I’ve been thinking about the week that was and the reactions of participants on my workshops to the Straight Talk process. I’ve been thinking about the patterns of behaviour that I commonly see, and how they affect the ability of people to hold effective conversations that get results and at the same time build better [...]
They sent me on the training course
They didn’t make it clear
They haven’t come back to me
They didn’t do it right the first time
They never answer the phone
I have heard all of these statements this week. It’s been quite a week! They seem to be everywhere, messing up our lives as usual. They have a lot [...]
I am still receiving replies to my invitation for people to tell me about conversations that they find scary.
Here is a sample of the suggestions I have received.
At work many of the conversations involve speaking up about decisions you feel are unfair, or about someone’s less than tolerable management style, even when you have been [...]
The next book that I’m planning to write has the working title ‘Straight Talk: conversations that scare you’.
I’ve been doing some research for it with my clients and recently asked them to send me outlines for conversations that they think are scary. I’ve been blown away by the number who replied and by the detail [...]
You will have seen on the web site that my first book on Straight Talk was published recently. As I went to buy the Sunday newspaper in which a review of the book had been published, I reflected on feedback and how a review of a book is actually performance feedback.
I felt excited, and a [...]