Effective performance conversations depend on people keeping their agreements and doing what they said they would do. Encourage people to respect the idea that keeping agreements matters. Keeping agreements is the foundation for effective performance conversations. Every time we say Yes to a request, we have created an agreement with someone. It might be as […]
Don’t risk being held to account for things you don’t know about. Take the time to find out what people really expect you to do, and what they expect you to deliver. If they don’t tell you, ask. It’s part of getting and giving a good promise and is key to effective performance conversations. I […]
Laurie and I recently conducted a training program on The Four Conversations for a group of project managers. Since most of the managers were from the same organization, they all encountered the same problem when given an assignment. Rather than being told a due date or deadline by when the assignment was to be completed, […]
When given a deadline you know you really cannot meet, propose an alternative you can meet – that’s called making a counteroffer. If you don’t counteroffer when you know something cannot be done, you’re setting up yourself and others for failure. What do you do when someone asks you to do something you know you […]
Todd Sattersten, President of 800-CEO-READ, conducted an interview with Jeffrey regarding The Four Conversations. You can listen to the interview here.
We recently had a manager, let’s call her Lisa, ask “How do I motivate the people on my team to care about the project we have?” Interesting question, but it is misdirected. Rather than focusing on their motivation, we told Lisa to focus on her conversations. Motives and Motivation Managers and social scientists have long […]
The following review of The Four Conversations was written by 800-CEO-READ and posted on their bl0g. It is reprinted here with their permission. If you haven’t discovered 800-CEO-READ, we encourage you to check them out. They are a wealth of valuable information about business books. ____________________________________________ Jack Covert Selects – The Four Conversations Communication is […]
Welcome to Using the Four Conversations! We have created this blog as a way to be in communication with people who are using, or who are interested in learning The Four Conversations. We will post ideas, tips, and examples so that you can develop your ability to use The Four Conversations with greater ease and […]
Awarded "Best Management Book" by 800-CEO-READ.
Rated #5 "Best Business Book" by The Toronto Globe and Mail.