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 [...]

As managers, many of us do indeed talk straight. We identify problems, decide on solutions, allocate responsibilities, communicate it all to our people with standards and deadlines … but the job doesn’t get done! Managing would be easy if only people would do what they have been told to do. And they have been told. [...]