Difficult Conversations : How to Discuss What Matters Most

The 10th-anniversary edition of the New York Times business bestseller-now updated with "Answers to Ten Questions People Ask"

We attempt or avoid difficult conversations every day-whether dealing with an underperforming employee, disagreeing with a spouse, or negotiating with a client.

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.

You'll 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

Difficult Conversations walks you through a proven, concrete, step-by-step approach for understanding and conducting tough conversations. This textbook shows you how to get ready, how to start the conversations in ways that reduce defensiveness, and how to keep the conversation on a constructive track regardless of how the other person responds.