Succession & planning consultant
Strong relationships are built on clear, empathetic communication. In 4 Essential Keys to Effective Communication, Bento C. Leal III provides a practical guide to mastering four foundational skills—empathic awareness, empathic listening, empathic speaking, and empathic dialogue. These tools help readers improve their connections at home, at work, and anywhere else relationships matter.
by Kate Murphy
In a world obsessed with talking, listening has become a lost art. Yet, it remains the cornerstone of connection, understanding, and growth. Kate Murphy’s You’re Not Listening reveals why we struggle to listen, the consequences of this oversight, and the transformative power of fully tuning in to others. Murphy demonstrates how to sharpen your listening skills and harness their potential to enhance relationships, build trust, and thrive in a noisy world. By learning to listen deeply, you’ll cultivate stronger relationships, resolve conflicts more effectively, and discover meaning in conversations that others overlook.
by Rob Fitzpatrick and Devin Hunt
The Workshop Survival Guide is a straightforward guide to workshop design and facilitation. Author Rob Fitzpatrick teaches early-stage startups how to get customer feedback. Co-author Devin Hunt teaches mid-stage entrepreneurs on a variety of business topics. They’ve created and delivered workshops for audiences ranging from professionals to executives, undergrads to MBAs, disadvantaged youths to others.
The book has three sections. Part one covers design fundamentals. Part two is about facilitation. The appendix describes additional teaching formats and an example of a process for developing a new exercise.
by Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, and Emily Gregory
Relationships, careers, organizations, and communities benefit when the people involved have the skills to openly and successfully discuss high-stakes, emotional, controversial issues — when they have the skills to engage in and guide crucial conversations successfully.
Crucial Conversations walks you through an entire toolset for staying cool and getting results during these challenging conversations. In addition to the opening chapters that describe crucial conversations, the book is organized into three parts. Part one covers what to do before a conversation. Part two addresses how to manage crucial conversations, including managing yourself. Part three outlines how to wrap up crucial conversations and move from dialogue to action.
by Randy Olson and Park Howell
The Narrative Gym for Business provides a practical, effective framework for shaping any form of communication intended to connect with and motivate the recipient. The heart is a simple three-part model for framing messages using narrative structure, which resonates with recipients in ways that science has proven non-narrative messages can’t.
Dr. Randy Olson is a scientist-turned-filmmaker. He was a tenured professor of marine biology (with a Ph.D. from Harvard) when he moved to Hollywood and went to film school. Besides writing and directing films about significant issues in science, he’s on a mission to help scientists (and others) become better communicators.