Would you like to be better at having difficult conversations?

Jun 28, 2019

Okay, everybody! Buckle up because this week's book is for literally everyone on the planet!

Jesse Chapman, a very special guest host -- our very FIRST guest host! -- walks us through the New York Times Bestseller Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen.

Read more about the (insanely qualified and smart) authors below!

Difficult Conversations provides a step-by-step approach to having tough conversations with less stress and more success. The book promises 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

In this Difficult Conversations book review, we cover the main philosophies of the book and try mock difficult conversations ourselves. It is ridiculous and insightful. 

About the authors:

Douglas Stone is a lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School and a founder of Triad Consulting Group. His articles on negotiation and conflict resolution have appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, Management Consultant News, and IT Metrics. He has appeared on many TV and radio shows, including Oprah, and was a key-note speaker at the 2006 World Negotiation Forum in Brazil.

Sheila Heen is also a Founder of Triad Consulting Group and has been on the Harvard Law School faculty as a Lecturer on Law since 1995. Sheila has spent more than twenty years with the Harvard Negotiation Project, developing negotiation theory and practice. She specializes in particularly difficult negotiations – where emotions run high and relationships become strained.

Sheila and Doug are co-authors of the New York Times bestsellers Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most, and Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well (Even When It’s Off-Base, Unfair, Poorly Delivered and Frankly, You’re Not in the Mood)

Bruce Patton is cofounder and distinguished fellow of the Harvard Negotiation Project and a founder and partner of Vantage Partners, LLC. Along with Roger Fisher, Patton pioneered the teaching of negotiation at Harvard Law School, where he has taught since 1981. In the public arena, he helped to structure the resolution of the 1980 U.S.-Iranian hostage conflict and continues to work toward better conflict management in the Middle East and elsewhere. He is a co-author of the bestselling book Getting to YES: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. 

If you'd like to buy the book, you can snag it here. 

And if you'd like to know more about our awesome guest host Jesse, he can be found on Instagram @waitreally

Jesse’s podcast Beyond Beyond Belief is also a ton of fun.

Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review Go Help Yourself!

Let us know what you think of this book!

XO,

Misty & Lisa