Crucial Confrontations: Tools for Resolving Broken Promises, Violated Expectations, and Bad Behavior by Kerry Patterson
This feels like more of a textbook than a non fiction for the layman, but that may have been because it was lent to me in a set of two, with an audio guide. It reads like a self help book, which is really what it is.
I think almost everyone needs this book. Most people are not very good at having crucial confrontations with others in a way that’s effective and motivating. Usually they avoid the conversation entirely, or don’t get to the root of the problem. Frequently people resort too quickly to threats or guilt or other power plays to get people to do what they want, instead of finding other ways of motivating them.
Some of the suggestions in this book may come off as obvious. Some of them make complete sense, but are things that I never thought of, such as if you want to make someone tell you what’s really keeping them from completing a task, you have to make it “safe” for them to speak the truth.
I think that this book is a good start towards learning to be a better leader and a better communicator. It’s certainly better than most “leadership” books I’ve read, because it’s specific and detailed. It’ll take a lot of study and memorization to incorporate the ideas, however, especially because so many of them are abstract and oddly described.
