::VitalSmarts - Personal Success Stories::

BUSINESS RESOURCES

Corporate Case Studies
See how leading organizations turned to VitalSmarts for hard-hitting results.
Read the Case Studies

Trainer Success Stories
See how VitalSmarts Certified Trainers are leading major change initiatives with Crucial Conversations Training in their organizations.
Read the Success Stories

Position Papers
Our team of researchers, authors, and experts speaks out.
Read the Position Papers

Useful Links
About VitalSmarts
Contact Us
Research Practice
Speakers Bureau

PERSONAL SUCCESS STORIES

Download the latest examples of how award-winning training and books from VitalSmarts have enabled the following people to achieve amazing results—both in the workplace and at home. These brief testimonials will inspire you to use your crucial skills to change your world.

Healthcare: Accountability in the Operating Room
By George Watson, M.D., Fallon, Nevada

By holding his colleagues accountable to expectations and standards, Dr. Watson helped to save the lives of a woman and her baby when she goes into premature labor.

Read the Success Story

Education: How Do You Spell R-E-S-P-E-C-T?
By Lisa Salmon, Leichhardt, Australia

Lisa, who teaches primary-school English, almost quit her job due to a disruptive headmaster. Lisa explains how she established mutual respect with the headmaster and her class by holding an effective crucial conversation.

Read the Success Story

Engineering and Purchasing: Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks
By Tom Ehrenberg, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Tom, a manufacturing engineer with a long history of anger management issues and frequent "blow ups," used crucial conversations skills to change his communication style and save his job.

Read the Success Story

Personal Relationships: Discussing Weighty Issues
By Sandra Oliver, LaCrescent, Minnesota

Sandra, a concerned mother, used crucial conversations skills to talk to her teenage daughter about her developing weight problems in a way that improved their relationship and put them both on a path to better health.

Read the Success Story

Public Service: Navigating Through Community Conflicts
By Milt Haken, Nenana, Alaska

Chief of Police, Milt Haken, diffused anger and resistance from his community by using crucial conversations skills to sentence and deal with a politically risky legal issue.

Read the Success Story

Personal Relationships: Strengthening Family Ties with Crucial Conversations
By Kathy Williams-Palmer, Garland, Texas

Through crucial conversations skills, Kathy restored a broken relationship with her mother after years of stress, anger, and resentment.

Read the Success Story

Healthcare: Increasing Patient Satisfaction
By Jerry Maliot, M.D, Memphis, Tennessee

Dr. Maliot used crucial conversations skills with a colleague to ensure his patient received the best care possible.

Read the Success Story

Healthcare: Nursing Crucial Conversations
By Crystal Diggs, RN, Clearwater, FL

Crystal, a registered nurse, learned how to use her crucial conversation skills to achieve the results and gain the respect she was seeking at work. Her patients receive better care because of she successfully spoke up.

Read the Success Story

Diplomacy: Crucial Conversations at the United Nations
By Marilu Southam, Geneva, Switzerland

Marilu had an opportunity to use her crucial conversation skills to be both candid and respectful when presenting delicate information on child abduction, safety, and sex slavery to the United Nations. Her presentation to the UN made a significant impact regarding these important, and often overlooked, human rights issue.

Read the Success Story

Healthcare: Being Patient
By Phyllis Julian, Knoxville, TN

Phyllis effectively used her crucial conversation skills to ensure her hospitalized husband received the right treatment by appropriately, not abrasively, challenging his doctor’s medication recommendations.

Read the Success Story

Family: Fostering Relationships
By Rebecca Howland, Salt Lake City, UT

Rebecca, mother of six, graciously took two foster children into her home only to deal with hard feelings and resentment from their mother. Using the skills of crucial confrontations, Rebecca approached the volatile mother with concerns. For the first time in their relationship, the animosity melted away and behavior changed.

Read the Success Story

Family: Managing Crucial Conversations at Work and at Home
By Clara Burns, Boulder, CO

Clara used crucial conversations to help diffuse difficult divorce negotations as well as improve her relationships at work and preserve her job.

Read the Success Story