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Summary: Strategies for better Communications
Review: If you really want to improve your verbal communications on all levels of your life, look no further. This 5 CD audiobook is the way to go. I've read and studied literally everything out there;this is truly a set of tactics that really work with your work, spouse, kids, anybody. I wish this book had been available ten years ago. I would recommend this work to anyone who really cares about listening and expressing themselves better.
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Summary: This book could save countless marriages
Review: This is an exceptional book. Not since picking up Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" over 10 years ago have I come across a book that is destined to have great impact on both myself and millions of other readers.In essence "Difficult Conversations" is a practical everyday guide for living and breathing Stephen's fifth habit - "Seek first to understand then to be understood". It can be thought of as a "conversational handbook" - applicable in both your personal and business lives. Recently married couples, parents of teenage children and newly appointed managers will find the book especially powerful. The concepts are simple and if internalised could for eaxmple save the needless destruction of countless marriages. What excites me most is that it is so very readable and that its lessons are sufficiently simple that although it might take a life time to master - when applied you can see results in your own conversations and relationships immediately. Although I've yet to find any reference to the discipline of "dialogue" (as developed by the physicist David Bohm) in the book - it falls squarely within this subject area.
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Summary: Most original piece of work in years
Review: Material is well presented, good examples, well rounded approach. Would be well augmented by a brief understanding of social styles but not dependent on them. Well worth the price and more!
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Summary: Indispensable for executive & team coaches
Review: This volume hones in closer to the essential wisdom these researchers discuss in their earlier volumes of Building Relationships... and Getting To Yes. It provides sound rational guidance for those irrational experiences we all find ourselves in (and believe there is no hope). Their findings will also be a valuable template for those who coach others in how they might find a better way out of the most difficult situations.
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Summary: Perhaps the most useful book I've ever read.
Review: I have 3 bookshelves of books I've read, and this is the only one I'm keeping on my desk. If you were intriqued but bored by Goleman's Emotional Intelligence, this is the how-to guide. Simple to read, straighforward, but puts forth a lifelong challenge so you'll want to keep this book close at hand as you begin your learning journey.
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Summary: The best available book on workplace communications.
Review: I use the concepts presented in this book every week in conflict resolution sessions in the workplace. Every person involved in any difficult relationship at work, at home, at play (who isn't?) would benefit from a thorough study of this book.
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Summary: Very logical, well thought out information and easy to apply
Review: The authors have done an outstanding job of analyzing what makes conversations difficult and translating that information into real-world strategies to help overcome those convrsations. Once I finished the book, I was able to apply the concepts almost effortlessly and got excellent results. The information is logical and well thought out, with each topic readily tying into the next. The strategies were like a bridge - they were the tools that transported my thoughts to reality.
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Summary: It's changed my life
Review: I started off slowly -- I focused on listening and and acknowledging my "contribution." Now, not a day goes by where I don't pick up the book and use it to help me solve a problem. It's been a paradigm-shifting experience. I highly recommend it.
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Summary: A Difficult Book to understand!
Review: I don't know if it was that the book was not well written, or just that the thoughts seemed disjointed, but I had a very difficult time following the ideas. First of all, it is really hard to digest the fact that I may be at fault for all of the issues I need to have difficult conversations about. This book would have us all believing that we should not only always look at the other person's side, but often sacrifice our own views and desires in the interest of making a difficult conversation easier. Secondly, I am sure there must be a better approach than this. I had to strongly disagree on many occasions with the author's recommendations because when I applied them to my own life, I found myself having to make excuses for wrongdoings that others did to me! Definitely not for people with low self-esteem!
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Summary: If everyone USED the techniques, our lives would benefit!
Review: Although this book was written by lawyers who in general are poor communicators, the lawyers who wrote this book demonstrate that generalities don't hold (and in fact impede communication). If we all USED the techniques presented in this book, our lives would be improved. Techniques are clearly presented and illustrated, but, of course, implementing these concepts into lives will require much effort (which the authors address). I suspect that anyone loooking for quick fix ideas will be disappointed, but it is hard to imagine that someone could read even a portion of this book and not become a better communicator. Highly recommended for anyone who is serious about improving their communication skills!
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