Essential information for sales/marketing professionals

I had purchased this book based on the number of positive reviews and noted that the few negative ones were complaining of the text being too basic. That wasn't my experience at all. I find that the author(s) have a strong grasp of human interaction principles and specifically relate well to Dr. Covey's material by understanding how empathic communication is the key to connection. For those of you who sell (and DON'T like the arts of persuasion, closing and negotiation) I recommend this book as well as Jeff Thull's Mastering the Complex Sale. They should be required reading when the stakes are high.

It's crucial!

This book is so great because it helps with one of the toughest and most perplexing challenges we face--tough conversations over sensitive issues. I couldn't help but think how unique a tool this book is for something that is so incredibly important in life.

Another book I recommend I purchased because it has an endorsement from one of the Crucial Conversations authors. It's called The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book and the two go really great together.

For anyone desiring to communicate better

I found this book to be very helpful on many different levels. It was written in a format that made it very easy to understand and follow. The first few chapters were dedicated to describing different types of communication and what things contribute to breakdowns in communication. I liked that the authors gave several examples in many different situations to illustrate what they were talking about. Often people do not even notice that their own actions are contributing to the reasons that problems are not being solved. The book helps to define some of the ways people can look at themselves in order to find out if their actions are incompatible to getting what they want.
The book also describes several different ways that these problems can be fixed. I liked that the authors did not try to act as if communication problems can be easily fixed. It brought up problems such as what to do when the person you are talking to does not trust your motives, or when you and that person have to entirely different desires. There is even a chapter at the end of the book that allots for problems that are seemingly impossible to fix. The authors also admitted that conversations happening in real time are not always as simple as the examples that they provide. These sections made the book a little more believable to me.
The solutions that the book describes are presented in a format that is easy to remember. Most of them are acronyms, and the reader gets the sense that they can be applied to real life. I also liked that the book is helpful to people in a variety of communication situations, whether you are trying to talk to colleagues at a board meeting or your spouse about possibly moving. I would recommend this book for anyone who is looking for ways to communicate with the people in their lives.