Books by Al Switzler

Crucial Confrontations: Tools for Resolving Broken Promises, Violated Expectations, and Bad Behavior

by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler

The authors of the New York Times bestseller Crucial Conversations show you how to achieve personal, team, and organizational success by healing broken promises, resolving violated expectations, and influencing good behavior.
Discover skills to resolve touchy, controversial, and complex issues at work and at home--now available in this follow-up to the internationally popular Crucial Conversations.
Behind the problems that routinely plague organizations and families, you'll find individuals who are either unwilling or unable to deal with failed promises. Others have broken rules, missed deadlines, failed to live up to commitments, or just plain behaved badly--and nobody steps up to the issue. Or they do, but do a lousy job and create a whole new set of problems. Accountability suffers and new problems spring up. New research demonstrates that these disappointments aren't just irritating, they're costly--sapping organizational performance by twenty to fifty percent and accounting for up to ninety percent of divorces.
Crucial Confrontations teaches skills drawn from 10,000 hours of real-life observations to increase confidence in facing issues like: An employee speaks to you in an insulting tone that crosses the line between sarcasm and insubordination. Now what? Your boss just committed you to a deadline you know you can't meet--and not-so-subtly hinted he doesn't want to hear complaints about it. Your son walks through the door sporting colorful new body art that raises your blood pressure by forty points. Speak now, pay later. An accountant wonders how to step up to a client who is violating the law. Can you spell unemployment? Family members fret over how to tell granddad that he should no longer drive his car. This is going to get ugly. A nurse worries about what to say to an abusive physician. She quickly remembers "how things work around here" and decides not to say anything.
Everyone knows how to run for cover, or if adequately provoked, step up to these confrontations in a way that causes a real ruckus. That we have down pat. Crucial Confrontations teaches you how to deal with violated expectations in a way that solves the problem at hand, and doesn't harm the relationship--and in fact, even strengthens it.
Crucial Confrontations borrows from twenty years of research involving two groups. More than 25,000 people helped the authors identify those who were most influential during crucial confrontations. They spent 10,000 hours watching these people, documented what they saw, and then trained and tested with more than 300,000 people. Second, they measured the impact of crucial confrontations improvements on organizational and team performance--the results were immediate and sustainable: twenty to fifty percent improvements in measurable performance.

Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition

by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler

The New York Times and Washington Post bestseller that changed the way millions communicate
“[Crucial Conversations] draws our attention to those defining moments that literally shape our lives, our relationships, and our world. . . . This book deserves to take its place as one of the key thought leadership contributions of our time.”
―from the Foreword by Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
“The quality of your life comes out of the quality of your dialogues and conversations. Here’s how to instantly uplift your crucial conversations.”
―Mark Victor Hansen, cocreator of the #1 New York Times bestselling series Chicken Soup for the Soul®
The first edition of Crucial Conversations exploded onto the scene and revolutionized the way millions of people communicate when stakes are high. This new edition gives you the tools to: Prepare for high-stakes situations Transform anger and hurt feelings into powerful dialogue Make it safe to talk about almost anything Be persuasive, not abrasive

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition

by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler

* * * Over 4 Million Copies Sold * * *
The New York Times bestseller that changed the way millions communicate
“[Crucial Conversations] draws our attention to those defining moments that literally shape our lives, our relationships, and our world. . . . This book deserves to take its place as one of the key thought leadership contributions of our time.”
―from the Foreword by Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
“The quality of your life comes out of the quality of your dialogues and conversations. Here’s how to instantly uplift your crucial conversations.”
―Mark Victor Hansen, cocreator of the #1 New York Times bestselling series Chicken Soup for the Soul®
“Coming in as the new CEO of an organization with many tenured employees, I have had many crucial conversations. Using Crucial Conversations as my playbook during this time was paramount in guiding me through each conversation.”
―Joanne K. Bryson, CAE, Executive Vice President and CEO, Oregon Medical Association
“Any book is powerful if you can relate to its content, is simple to understand, easy to apply, and is based on research. I have found all of these elements in Crucial Conversations. The narrative has a universal appeal and the strength to transcend cultures.”
Capt. Charanjit Lehal, AGM Training and Development, TataSky, India
“I was personally and professionally inspired by this book―and I’m not easily impressed.”
―Maureen Burke, Training Manager, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc.
About the Book:
Perhaps once a decade, a book comes along that transforms people’s lives in a very real, measurable way. This is one of them.
Crucial Conversations exploded onto the scene ten years ago and revolutionized the way people communicate when stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong. Since then, millions of people have learned how to hold effective crucial conversations and have dramatically improved their lives and careers thanks to the methods outlined in this book.
Now, the authors have revised their bestselling classic to provide even more ways to help you take the lead in any tough conversation: New firsthand accounts of how these skills changed readers’ lives New case studies showing how business leaders successfully applied these methods to achieve results New links to videos teaching what to do and what to avoid during crucial conversations New research findings offering fresh insights for applying the skills taught in the book
Crucial Conversations is filled with practical advice you can start using today: Prepare for high-stakes conversations Make it safe to talk about almost anything Transform unpleasant emotions into powerful dialogue Be persuasive, not abrasive
Crucial Conversations gets you past the hard parts of dialogue and helps you achieve relationships that are real, productive, and that will enrich your life and career.

Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change, Second Edition

by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, David Maxfield

An INFLUENCER leads change.
An INFLUENCER replaces bad behaviors with powerful new skills.
An INFLUENCER makes things happen.
This is what it takes to be an INFLUENCER.

Whether you're a CEO, a parent, or merely a person who wants to make a difference, you probably wish you had more influence with the people in your life. But most of us stop trying to make change happen because we believe it is too difficult, if not impossible. We learn to cope rather than learning to influence.

From the bestselling authors who taught the world how to have Crucial Conversations comes the new edition of Influencer, a thought provoking book that combines the remarkable insights of behavioral scientists and business leaders with the astonishing stories of high powered influencers from all walks of life. You'll be taught each and every step of the influence process including robust strategies for making change inevitable in your personal life, your business, and your world. You'll learn how to:
Identify high leverage behaviors that lead to rapid and profound change Apply strategies for changing both thoughts and actions Marshal six sources of influence to make change inevitable
Influencer takes you on a fascinating journey from San Francisco to Thailand to South Africa, where you'll see how seemingly "insignificant" people are making incredibly significant improvements in solving problems others would think impossible. You'll learn how savvy folks make change not only achievable and sustainable, but inevitable. You'll discover breakthrough ways of changing the key behaviors that lead to greater safety, productivity, quality, and customer service.

No matter who you are or what you do, you'll never learn a more valuable or important set of principles and skills. Once you tap into the power of influence, you can reach out and help others work smarter, grow faster, live, look, and feel better and even save lives. The sky is the limit . . . for an Influencer.

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High, Third Edition

by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, Emily Gregory

This New York Times bestseller and business classic has been fully updated for a world where skilled communication is more important than ever.

The book that revolutionized business communications has been updated for today’s workplace. Crucial Conversations provides powerful skills to ensure every conversation―especially difficult ones―leads to the results you want. Written in an engaging and witty style, it teaches readers how to be persuasive rather than abrasive, how to get back to productive dialogue when others blow up or clam up, and it offers powerful skills for mastering high-stakes conversations, regardless of the topic or person.

This new edition addresses issues that have arisen in recent years. You’ll learn how to:

• Respond when someone initiates a Crucial Conversation with you
• Identify and address the lag time between identifying a problem and discussing it
• Communicate more effectively across digital mediums

When stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong, you have three choices: Avoid a crucial conversation and suffer the consequences; handle the conversation poorly and suffer the consequences; or apply the lessons and strategies of Crucial Conversations and improve relationships and results.

Whether they take place at work or at home, with your coworkers or your spouse, Crucial Conversations have a profound impact on your career, your happiness, and your future. With the skills you learn in this book, you'll never have to worry about the outcome of a Crucial Conversation again.