AIM FOR IMPACT: ESSENTIALS FOR RURAL HEALTH LEADERS

CRUCIAL CONVERSATION BOOK STUDY

It is not always easy to have a conversation with one of your colleagues, a

customer or patient, a board member or partner organization; sometimes

the stakes are high and the opinions are diverse. One of the key ideas of

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Kerry

Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler is that we only really

have control of ourselves. The authors had set out to research what made

some people especially effective and their answer; some people were very

good at getting relevant information out into the open in order to make the

best decisions. They have suggestions for skills and approaches that will help

all of us identify and hold crucial conversations.

Any time you find yourself stuck, there are crucial conversations keeping you

there. Identify the crucial conversations that you’re not holding, or not

holding well, and get better at everything.

In this book study we will use two 1 hour webinars to share our insights and

learning after reading the same chapters of Crucial Conversations.

Deliverables:

By the end of this book study, you will be able to:

Name three characteristics that make a conversation “crucial”.

Define two methods to keep it safe enough to get relevant information

in the open.

Separate facts from assumptions and inferences.

Describe the “path to action” taken by each person in a crucial

conversation.

Outline the steps to come to a shared agreement following a dialogue.

Interested in participating in a Crucial Conversations Book

study?

The Rural Health Innovations TA Team will periodically host a Crucial

Conversation book study. If you would like to participate in the next book

study please contact the TA Team at networkTA@ruralcenter.org or 218-

727-9390 x 251.