Dear Crucial Skills, I have been in two situations which completely took me by surprise where a person in leadership unloaded on me and berated me for something I didn’t do. Both times, the leader did not even pause long enough to let me explain my side. Receiving this unproductive criticism from an individual in …
Visit the Crucial Skills blog to read Joseph Grenny’s answer to this question: What is the best way to present indirect or hearsay facts in a crucial conversation?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Joseph Grenny is coauthor of four New York Times bestsellers, Change Anything, Crucial Conversations, Crucial Confrontations, and Influencer. READ MORE Dear Crucial Skills, My sister-in-law is in a cycle of denial and anger at having lost her home and many possessions. She is also on the verge of losing her business. She …
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Joseph Grenny is coauthor of four New York Times bestsellers, Change Anything, Crucial Conversations, Crucial Confrontations, and Influencer. READ MORE Dear Crucial Skills, I come from a close family. We’ve all had decent jobs and live comfortable lifestyles. However, since my brother lost his job a few years ago, he and his …
Dear Crucial Skills, Ten of us are struggling with how to deal with the bad behavior of our boss. Most of us are contemplating leaving this really good company because of it. Two others have quit already because of the bad and even abusive behavior and told the HR director and CEO. Nothing has changed. …
Dear Crucial Skills, We have a set of standards in our company. One of them references how we treat other employees with respect. Recently, I put one of my employees on verbal warning for calling another employee a vulgar name—a clear sign of disrespect. This was a pretty clear-cut case. But others are more gray. …
Dear Crucial Skills, A while back, my wife asked if it would be okay with me if her 30-year-old son set up residence in the spare bedroom for three months until he got his own home. I thought that sounded fine. It’s now been three years and the lad is still there. My wife doesn’t …
Dear Crucial Skills, I have been practicing my crucial conversations skills and found I actually used one the other night with my sister. She expressed her resentment to me about failing to consult her on a crucial family decision regarding our father’s health. Being a graduate of Crucial Conversations, I immediately recognized that I had …
Dear Kerry, In Master My Stories II, the Humanizing Question is “Why would a reasonable, rational and decent person do this?” Asking this question is often helpful in turning villains to humans and assuming the best in others. But what if the answer to the Humanizing Question is that this is not a reasonable, rational …
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Emily Moss is a Master Trainer and Senior Director of Client Training and Employee Development at VitalSmarts. READ MORE Dear Crucial Skills, I recently got a call from the head of another department. He asked me, “Why are the analysts afraid to ask you for a work product?” I tried to build …
