Crucial Conversations
One minute your spouse is asking you about dinner plans, and the next you're in an argument about whose turn it is to clean the kitchen. You've just entered into a crucial conversation, especially if you're a teacher working on her master's degree and never have time to clean!
Crucial conversations are all around you and if you are not self-aware of your hot buttons then you are more likely to end up in a heated discussion without intending to. As a leader and change agent, it is inevitable that I will end up in a crucial conversation and it's vital I can implement the strategies Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, and Switzler share in Crucial Conversations (2012).
A few of the conversations I'll have are going to be with teachers and implementing technology into their classrooms. When I approach my boss with my innovation plan for blending our professional development and changing it from a one and done session to an ongoing support system. The one I don't look forward to is the one with my principals when I have to ask for more technology and time to present at faculty meetings. Maybe now I won't be the silent person and can recognize when passions rise.
I created a book showing the strategies that I learned to help me navigate the minefield of crucial conversations that I may experience; based on the book Crucial Conversations (Patterson et al., 2012).
References:
Patterson, K., Grenny, J., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2012). Crucial conversations, Tools for talking when stakes are high. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill