- Hardcover: 272 pages
- Publisher: Piatkus Books; New edition edition (24 Oct 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0749923814
- ISBN-13: 978-0749923815
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16.2 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 800,414 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Fierce Conversations
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £1.30
Trade in Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success in Work and in Life, One Conversation at a Time for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £1.30, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Plus, get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
The conversation is the relationship. Fierce Conversations is a way of conducting business. An attitude. A way of life. Expert Susan Scott maintains that a single conversation can change the trajectory of a career, marriage or life. Whether it's conversations with yourself, partner, colleagues, customers, family or friends, Fierce Conversations shows you how to have conversations that count. Scott reveals how to: Overcome barriers to meaningful conversations; Express who you are and what you believe; Confront tough issues with courage, confidence and sensitivity; Overcome fear to get to the heart of the problem; Inspire followers, attract believers and build visions that become reality; Build authentic, strong relationships with colleagues, clients, friends and family; Bring about real change through talking; Encourage others to reveal their true opinions; Packed with exercises and questionnaires to help you have the best conversations possible, Fierce Conversations will revolutionise the way you communicate.
About the Author
SusanScott has spent sixteen years training clients in the art of fierce conversations. She maintains an international consulting firm Fierce Conversations Inc. She provides programmes to CEOs and executives. She lives in Seattle, Washington.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Fierce Conversations is a guidebook on how to make relationships meaningful and successful. It's simplicity of focusing on "one conversation at a time" avoids the pitfall of a relationship deteriorating in Scott's words "slowly then suddenly". The idea that our lives (and work) succeed or fail one conversation at a time, including those conversations we don't have is compelling.
The case studies from her consulting practice are reasonably instructive. Some of the models such as Mineral Rights and the Decision Tree are practical and useful to managers and coaches. This is both a "think about this" and a "here's how to use it" book that can give people the courage and tools to tell others what they are seeing and believing.
The case studies from her consulting practice are reasonably instructive. Some of the models such as Mineral Rights and the Decision Tree are practical and useful to managers and coaches. This is both a "think about this" and a "here's how to use it" book that can give people the courage and tools to tell others what they are seeing and believing.
We can all think of relationships that will benefit from applying some of these ideas and organisations that need to adopt them. Just think what could have happened at Enron, etc. if people had been willing to talk to each other about what was really going on? However one of the best concepts in the book is the notion of having "Fierce Conversations" with yourslef before having them with others.
The ideas are simple yet powerful and can change the way we talk both to ourselves and to others. The examples are rather better applied to business than to personal situations and the chapter on “ let silence do the heavy lifting” covers some important ideas but seems a little muddled. Apart from that the book is an easy read. Well worth having as part of the "tool kit"
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a book I recommend to all my executive coaching clients, and they come back and tell me how useful it is.
How many times have you experienced problems at work because someone isn't getting a message that they need to be told? Whether it's because of fear of that person, or because we are reluctant to 'hurt their feelings', or because we worry that they are so fragile that giving them this essential feedback will send them off the rails, very often we suppress what we want to say.
Susan Scott makes the case for authenticity as the essential characteristic for a healthy workplace and a successful business, and gives useful pointers on how to deliver difficult messages without an accompanying emotional payload.
Highly recommended.
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you work in a bureaucracy, or have read Jack Welch's autobiography, here's a how to get on with it guide - or at least, a big chunk of it. If you haven't read Jack Welch's book - go take a look (try "straight from the gut"). The reference here is to the one regret Mr Welch admits to: not getting on with some things sooner. At the heart of Fierce Conversations is a practical model for doing just that, and in particular handling the difficult people stuff you might rather avoid and put off. And it's not a bad model at that.
The book is written in the "American Business Book" style - chatty, with lots of anecdotes - so on first glance feels a bit lightweight. I prefer my knowledge to be well polished and structured, ideally with evidenced research, and in contrast this book comes across as rather haphazard and slapdash. But if you can stand the American style, there's gold in them thar hills.
Susan Scott's model offers a good way to make sure you deal with the things you need to deal with in conversations, and critically shows how you can avoid the collateral damage it's easy to inflict when doing so. That's the real essence of the book - how to navigate through the difficult conversations you need to have. "Fierce Conversations" is perhaps catchier than "A practical way to have the hard conversations without getting into an argument", which is what this is really about. The principles here actually offer ways to avoid dangerously wild, hostile, or vicious behaviour, which "fierce" might suggest. The model Ms Scott presents to do this is a good one. This reflects the wider trend in academic and business thinking about how to get things done - which is to recognise that it's about people, stupid. This model includes some real understanding about how things go wrong, and what to do about it.
How much use you'll find this is hard to say - I suspect it depends on the kind of person you are. I loved it, but I tend to want to go for the jugular anyway, so something that means less risk of collateral damage is really practical and worthwhile to me. If you tend to avoid the unpleasant stuff, this might be really useful in providing a way to approach those conversations, but won't answer all the issues - these can be difficult to face, and whilst preparing using the model may help, it won't change introverts into extroverts, or vice versa. So it may not really solve all the problems of how you face the meeting you need to have. It's not an answer for everything, but a good tool for your toolbox nonetheless.
It would be possible to boil down the contents and present these in a more concise and elegant form, but this is the real stuff, not fools gold: definitely worth reading, and quite possibly buying - worth the five stars.
The book is written in the "American Business Book" style - chatty, with lots of anecdotes - so on first glance feels a bit lightweight. I prefer my knowledge to be well polished and structured, ideally with evidenced research, and in contrast this book comes across as rather haphazard and slapdash. But if you can stand the American style, there's gold in them thar hills.
Susan Scott's model offers a good way to make sure you deal with the things you need to deal with in conversations, and critically shows how you can avoid the collateral damage it's easy to inflict when doing so. That's the real essence of the book - how to navigate through the difficult conversations you need to have. "Fierce Conversations" is perhaps catchier than "A practical way to have the hard conversations without getting into an argument", which is what this is really about. The principles here actually offer ways to avoid dangerously wild, hostile, or vicious behaviour, which "fierce" might suggest. The model Ms Scott presents to do this is a good one. This reflects the wider trend in academic and business thinking about how to get things done - which is to recognise that it's about people, stupid. This model includes some real understanding about how things go wrong, and what to do about it.
How much use you'll find this is hard to say - I suspect it depends on the kind of person you are. I loved it, but I tend to want to go for the jugular anyway, so something that means less risk of collateral damage is really practical and worthwhile to me. If you tend to avoid the unpleasant stuff, this might be really useful in providing a way to approach those conversations, but won't answer all the issues - these can be difficult to face, and whilst preparing using the model may help, it won't change introverts into extroverts, or vice versa. So it may not really solve all the problems of how you face the meeting you need to have. It's not an answer for everything, but a good tool for your toolbox nonetheless.
It would be possible to boil down the contents and present these in a more concise and elegant form, but this is the real stuff, not fools gold: definitely worth reading, and quite possibly buying - worth the five stars.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent management material
Initially the format of writing cab be 'typical american' to some Brits (no offense intended) and this book is an excellent read and tool for anyone having to manage others. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Paul in Selby
control your life
A great lightbulb moment book, ideal for people engaged in 'coaching' or just anyone looking to take control of their lifes and relationships with others, either at work or... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Mr. P. GOADBY-WATT
Fierce Conversations
This is an excellent read with great opportunties for learning.Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success in Work and in Life, One Conversation at a Time
Published 16 months ago by McCauleys
A very impressive book
This book was recommended to my by my personnel manager at work and I am very glad I purchased it. Although most of the case studies are related to professional situations the... Read more
Published on 12 April 2010 by S. Robinson
one of the best personal transformation books out there
This book is quite simply the most important 'self help' or 'self improvement' book I've ever read. I wanted to improve my listening skills; with colleagues, with customers, with... Read more
Published on 15 Dec 2009 by Gregory Collins
Helpful, thought provoking ways to reframe your conversations
A very easy to read (though not simple!) book that offers real insight and opportunties for having those intense necessary conversations and a way of looking at things. Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2009 by John Buckley
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
