raditional approaches to communication have emphasized such things as media, medium, and frequency of communication, as if leaders are engaged in campaigns of some type (which, at times, they are). What has been ignored, therefore, is the impact of day-to-day conversations on individual and organization performance and how those conversations can be altered and managed to bring about higher levels of performance.

Preface Chapter 1 – Four Conversations in a Successful Workplace 1. The Importance of Conversations 2. Some Conversations Slow Things Down, Others Speed Things Up 3. Six Limitations to a Successful Workplace 4. Conversations: Your Personal Advantage 5. Key Points Chapter 2 – Initiative Conversations: Create a Future 1. Leaders Have Initiative Conversations 2. Choose Your Initiative Statement: What-When-Why 3. Prepare for Your Initiative Conversation: Who-Where-How 4. Launch Your Initiative Conversation 5. If You Are Missing Initiative Conversations 6. Putting it into Practice Chapter 3 – Understanding Conversations: Include & Engage 1. Help People Find a Positive Meaning in Your Message 2. Expand and Deepen Participation 3. The Limits of Understanding 4. If You Are Missing Understanding Conversations 5. Putting it into Practice Chapter 4 – Performance Conversations: Ask and Promise 1. Commit to Performance: What-When-Why 2. Ask Others to Commit 3. Promises Create Agreements: Who-Where-How 4. Manage the Agreement 5. If You Are Missing Performance Conversations 6. Putting it into Practice Chapter 5 – Closure Conversations: Create Endings 1. An Incomplete Past Can Prevent a New Future 2. The Four A’s of Closure Conversations 3. Build Accountability and Resolve “People Problems” 4. If You Are Missing Closure Conversations 5. Putting it into Practice Chapter 6 – Using the Four Conversations 1. Using the Four Conversations 2. How the Four Conversations Work Together 3. Putting it into Practice Chapter 7 – Support the Conversational Workplace 1. The Conversational Workplace 2. Practices to Support for the Conversational Workplace 3. Implementing the Practices: Four Tips 4. A Closing Note Resources Notes Index Acknowledgments About the Authors