Book Review - Difficult conversations by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton and Sheila Heen of the Harvard Negotiation Project
What is a difficult conversation and how can we have them? We attempt or avoid difficult conversations every day.
It might be about saying 'no' to your spouse or ex-spouse/partner, asking your boss for a pay rise, confronting a friend or neighbour, asking a difficult favour or apologising.
We all have conversations that we dread and find unpleasant. However, we can develop the skills to make such situations less stressful and more productive.
Based on fifteen years of research and consultations with thousands of people, DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS pinpoints what works.
Use this ground-breaking, step-by-step book to turn your difficult conversations into positive, problem-solving experiences.
From the Harvard Negotiation Project, the organization that brought you Getting to Yes, Difficult Conversations provides a step-by-step approach to having those tough conversations with less stress and more success.
The book will help you learn how to:
- Decipher the underlying structure of every difficult conversation
- Start a conversation without defensiveness
- Listen for the meaning of what is not said
- Stay balanced in the face of attacks and accusations
- Move from emotion to productive problem solving
A really interesting book with tips that family lawyers and clients can actually use and put into practice.
