“These people don’t get it. If they understood what we’re about here, they would do their job better.” Jerrie was tired of giving the extra time and attention that two of her people needed in order to be productive team members. We were talking about Understanding Conversations, oddly the most misunderstood of the Four Conversations. […]
Closure conversations can be used at anytime, they don’t have to be used only at the end of a project or an accomplishment. Jason, a hospital administrator in a Columbus hospital, used a closure conversation at the beginning of his interviews for a new job at a different hospital to reduce anxiety and address an […]
Retirement Bio: Nuclear Waste Management Laurie Ford, PhD in Operations Research engineering, has completed her 35-year career as a management and organization change consultant with business, government, and association clients throughout the United States – including the Department of Energy, Oak Ridge National Lab, China Lake Naval Air Center, NASA and Intel. Laurie was also a […]
The publications available here – for you to download if you like – include articles for both practitioners of management and for those who want to see a more academic or theoretical perspective on management. blank The practitioner articles are published in journals intended for executives and managers, to support those who want to expand […]
THE FOUR CONVERSATIONS: Daily Communication that Gets Results By Jeffrey Ford and Laurie Ford Blank Awarded #1 BEST BOOK IN MANAGEMENT by 800 CEO-READ Blank #5 BEST BUSINESS BOOK by Toronto’s The Globe and Mail This book on productive communication, published in 2009 by Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. is still used widely in university courses on management […]
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 […]
Order “The Four Conversations: Daily Communication that Gets Results” through any of these providers: Amazon.com Berrett-Koehler (our publisher) BarnesandNoble.com
Chapter 1—Four Conversations in a Successful Workplace The Importance of Conversations Some Conversations Slow Things Down, Others Speed Things Up Six Limitations to a Successful Workplace Conversations: Your Personal Advantage Key Points Chapter 2—Initiative Conversations: Create a Future Leaders Have Initiative Conversations Choose Your Initiative Statement: What-When-Why Prepare for Your Initiative Conversation: Who-Where-How Launch Your […]
Awarded "Best Management Book" by 800-CEO-READ.
Rated #5 "Best Business Book" by The Toronto Globe and Mail.