The start of the year might be a good time to think about how straight you talk and how you typically handle difficult conversations. Many of us say we talk straight, and we genuinely think we talk straight. But how straight do you really talk?

Check yourself out by scoring each item on a 10 point scale.

I am confident in my ability to...

1. Confront an employee with my concerns about his or her performance.

2. Be completely open and honest with my superior about issues I have with him or her.

3. Say "No" to a request I feel I cannot meet, without causing any animosity between myself and the other person.

4. Speak up to challenge a person in authority when I disagree with their views.

5. Speak to a person whose behaviour I find offensive or abusive.

6. Confront people who let me down so that I influence their behaviour.

7. Challenge the views of others even in high stakes meetings, without damaging their view of me.

8. Overall, I am confident in my ability to communicate effectively even in very difficult situations.