PROVO, UT – May 4, 2021 – For many people, working from home has been a perk of the COVID-19 pandemic. The flexibility and autonomy workers desired for years became a forced reality overnight. But a new study from VitalSmarts, a leader in corporate learning...
Provo, UT – February 11, 2021 – Every company experienced 2020, but not every company experienced it the same. Some organizations turned COVID challenges into opportunities, while others struggled to maintain the status quo. And yet, new research from VitalSmarts, a leader in corporate learning...
Provo, UT – October 27, 2020 – For the past seven months, we’ve been the subjects of a massive social experiment: what is the impact of a work-from-home (WFH) workforce on measures of corporate health like culture, engagement, morale, etc.? A new study by VitalSmarts, a...
TrainingIndustry.com, named VitalSmarts as a Top 20 Leadership Training Company for the sixth consecutive year. Selection to the annual list is based on the following: Thought leadership and influence within the training industry, breadth of programs and audiences served, delivery methods offered, company size and...
Provo, UT – June 24, 2020 – For most, work looks and feels different today than it did just a few months ago—and we’re not talking about working from home. A new study by VitalSmarts shows 58.6 percent of employees have experienced either a reduction...
Provo, UT – May 26, 2020 – While business success in coming months requires safety masks and sanitizer, a new study by VitalSmarts, a leader in social science-based behavior change, says that’s not enough. Successfully doing business in an ongoing pandemic also requires a culture...
Provo, UT—April 28, 2020—VitalSmarts, an innovator in corporate training and leadership development, today announced that The Power of Habit Training course is now available online in a completely on-demand, asynchronous learning experience. While The Power of Habit Online teaches the same content as the classroom course,...
April 22, 2020 – Provo, UT – In corporate America, March was the month work went remote. According to research from VitalSmarts, a leader in corporate training and learning development, of the majority of employees sent home to work, 9 out of 10 were given...
"If leaders aren't prepared to manage remote teams, or if these teams don't have good communication and collaboration habits in place, the effects of this virus could disrupt team connectivity, morale and accountability—not to mention results," said Justin Hale....
"Critical feedback feels traumatic because it threatens two of our most fundamental psychological needs: safety (perceived physical, social, or material security) and worth (a sense of self-respect, self-regard, or self-confidence)." - Joseph Grenny...
Joseph Grenny says that these days, it’s hard to get people to pay attention in any meeting, but when people aren’t in the same room, it can be especially difficult. He provides tips and advice for holding product and healthy virtual meetings....
Leadership Training Watch List from TrainingIndustry.com represents emerging or specialized leadership development companies. VitalSmarts made the list for the sixth consecutive year....
A study done by VitalSmarts shows that more than 1 in 5 employees don’t feel their team members have good enough collaboration habits to work effectively from home....
VitalSmarts' study of 1,097 adults, shows that 33% of respondents report having more online meetings and 17% have a new plan for video-based meetings and sales calls....
A new survey released by VitalSmarts found 1 in 5 leaders are unprepared to manage a remote team and 21.9% of employees don’t feel their team members have good enough collaboration habits to work effectively from home...
According to a VitalSmarts study of 1,097 professionals in the US, one in three said they’re ‘confident’ about their organization's business continuity plan....
In a bid to track the impact of the flu-like illness sweeping across the globe, leadership training company VitalSmarts surveyed 1,097 adults in March to learn about how their workplaces are handling the situation....
Let’s face it, most meetings have always sucked because there’s often little to zero accountability for engagement. When we are together in a room, we often compensate with coercive eye contact. Participants feel some obligation to feign interest (even if they’re staring at their phones)....
Provo, UT – March 12, 2020 – Corporate America is taking quick action to keep their employees safe from COVID-19. However, a new survey from VitalSmarts, a corporate training and leadership development company, shows that recently adopted work-from-home policies may lead to significant challenges as...
We’ve discovered and tested five rules that lead to predictably better meeting outcomes....
VitalSmarts, a leadership training company in Provo, Utah, found in a February survey of 1,060 of its newsletter subscribers that discussing politics outside of work can have a small trickle-down effect on careers....
March 2, 2020 – Provo, UT – In 2020, we may gain a new president, but we’ll also lose more friends. A new survey by VitalSmarts, home of Crucial Conversations Training, shows an alarming and increasing trend of hurtful trash-talking politics among coworkers and friends....
“While 61 per cent had political discussions that went 'surprisingly well' four years ago, only 29 per cent can make that same claim today. That is more than a 50 per cent reduction in respectful and productive dialogue about our nation's leadership," says author Joseph...
"When it comes to success, nothing trumps good habits" says VitalSmarts‘s lead researcher and vice president, Emily Gregory....
An Overcoming Career-Limiting Habits survey from VitalSmarts indicated that a shocking 97% of people routinely practice limiting job-related behaviors....
Joseph Grenny, the coauthor of “Crucial Conversations,” and Justin Hale, master trainer at VitalSmarts, offer six tips for approaching scary conversations about poor performance and bad behavior....
"My research confirms a manager’s style under stress has a disproportionate effect on their personal influence and their people" - David Maxfield...
VitalSmarts’s latest research confirms we can stop pining away for success and start engineering it....
Provo, UT—February 12, 2020—Today, VitalSmarts, an innovator in learning and development, announced the release of The Power of Habit™, a course based on the New York Times best-selling book of the same title by Charles Duhigg. Small, daily habits are strong predictors of long-term outcomes. The...
The latest research from VitalSmarts reveals how you can turn your hope into action....
The skills to learn and adopt new habits are taught in our new training course The Power of Habit....
The biggest impact you can make is to become an accountability role model yourself. Invest in books (or audio books) to study accountability at a deeper level. Consider the book Crucial Accountability....
VitalSmarts reveals that one out of every three managers doesn’t do well in high-stakes, high-pressure scenarios....
Joseph Grenny found that the health of a team can be measured by “the average lag time between identifying and discussing problems. The shorter the lag time, the faster problems get solved and the more the resolution enhances relationships. The longer the lag, the more...
December 26, 2019 – Provo, UT – Maybe it’s no surprise to learn success in 2020 won’t hinge on luck. But a new study shows success in the coming year will also not be the result of the decisions you make or your natural talent....
Workplace bullying is on the rise. According to a survey from Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield, co-authors of Crucial Conversations and Influencer, the person most likely to remain in his or her job was the bully....
When the recession comes for us, who will be ready? Well, almost nobody ever is, but there are ways to recession-proof yourself. Research from VitalSmarts, a corporate training and leadership development company, found that half the workforce won’t have it together if a recession hits....
Nearly half of employees aren't sufficiently agile, persistent or self-starting to handle an economic downturn, according to 89 executives spoken to by corporate training firm VitalSmarts....
According to a study from leadership training company VitalSmarts, three in five people end up feeling frantic because they agree to accomplish more than they can physically fit in to their working day. By taking five minutes everyday to ensure your to-do list is realistic and achievable,...
Provo, UT – November 21, 2019 – When the next recession hits, as much as half of today’s workforce won’t be ready. According to new research from VitalSmarts, a Top 20 Leadership Training company, leaders say nearly half of their employees don’t have the necessary...
For the second consecutive year, VitalSmarts is ranked #37 in the Top Workplaces in Utah in the midsize business division by The Salt Lake Tribune. ...
Newly promoted employees often struggle to quickly and adeptly transition into their new roles, according to a new study of 1,420 people by leadership training company VitalSmarts. Specifically, they struggle to turn new skills into automatic habits required for reliable execution in the new role....
Researchers have found that the holidays, while festive, provide the perfect combination for schedule and relationship overload. US company VitalSmarts has done a survey that identified the top five holiday stressors and also gave tips on how to deal with them. The top five stresses...
If holiday visits with family devolve into tense situations that trigger stress, anxiety or depression, you’re not alone. According to a 2018 survey conducted by VitalSmarts, a research-based corporate training company, 33% of participants reported that family gatherings were a major holiday stressor....
VitalSmarts is recognized as #37 on the Salt Lake Tribune's "2019 Best Workplaces" list in the midsize business category....
A survey conducted by VitalSmarts found that more than 80 percent of workers are fearful of confrontation. The lengths that they go to avoid difficult conversations range from avoiding the other person at all costs, dancing around the scary topic whenever they speak to the...
The specter of having a difficult conversation about work with a boss or colleague can cause sleepless nights and feelings of dread. Justin Hale, trainer at VitalSmarts, talks about the reasons why based off a new poll....
Justin Hale, Master Trainer at VitalSmarts, says there’s a way to coach people through tough workplace conversations. Confidence in conversation is a major obstacle. Many p0ll respondents say they’re holding off because they don’t have the confidence to bring up the issue or tackle the...
Joseph Grenny speaks on approaching "scary conversations" and how to avoid the tendency for "people [to] run the other way because experience tells them the other person will be angry or defensive." Learn how research shows otherwise....
October 3, 2019 – Provo, UT – Across the U.S., employees are haunted by something scary and destructive—and it’s not ghosts and goblins. A new poll from VitalSmarts, a top 20 leadership training company, shows more than 80% of workers are cowering from at least...
Provo, Utah – October 1, 2019– VitalSmarts, a top 20 leadership training company, announced today it has been acquired by Leeds Equity Partners, which allows the organization to once again operate independently. In addition to allowing VitalSmarts to operate independently, the investment from Leeds Equity Partners—a...
Four-time New York Times bestselling author and a leading social scientist for business performance, Joseph Grenny, outlines tips for approaching tricky conversations at work, particularly in less-than-ideal boss situations....
Is a coworker getting on your nerves? In this episode of HBR’s advice podcast, Alison Beard and Dan McGinn talk through what to do when a coworker acts like their responsibilities are beneath them, a colleague you referred to the team is being aggressive and...
Stay tuned for an excerpt from an interview with Emily Hoffman, the communications expert behind "Crucial Conversations," about how to more effectively communicate at work....
We all need feedback to improve at work, but when criticism is unexpectedly harsh, your first instinct may be to run and hide. Four steps can help you stay present and react in a productive way...
The ability to work remotely is an important job feature for many candidates. However there are pros and cons to this work setup, learn how you can make the most of your remote work while still maintaining growth....
High stakes. Conflicting opinions. Emotional engagement. These are the ingredients of Crucial Conversations -- which, for good or ill, are the most consequential in our lives. Emily Gregory teaches us how to navigate these conversations successfully....
People can have good intentions and rich technical backgrounds yet still overestimate their ability to manage workload. In fact, we’ve found that as a person’s roles and responsibilities increase, their productivity practices begin to fail them. For team members to thrive in a world of...
HuffPost asked therapists across the country to share the books they recommend most often ― or find themselves returning to in their own relationships. See their recommendations here!...
Most of us can remember a time we received harsh criticism at some point in our lives. Naturally, anyone with good advice would point to improving the messenger delivering the harsh criticism. But should we flip the tables? What if we learned to bounce back from harsh criticism by...
Paid leave is essential for employees who need a break from their daily grind. Time off relaxes and replenishes workers, and improves productivity when they return to the job. Joseph Grenny identifies six tips to help you get the PTO you deserve....
You define the contours of your character and the shape of your life by what you say “no” to. Here are some tips for inoculating yourself against inflated negative attributions when you dissent....
People come to the workplace with various skill sets and backgrounds...
To successfully develop an adaptive workforce, Forrester offered these three guidelines for employers....
Most managers aren’t aware of what their employees really think about them. Here’s what managers can do to encourage their employees to open up, and how you as the employee can broach the subject in a thoughtful, productive way....
Giving and receiving feedback is one of the hardest skills to get right in the modern workplace. Listen to Joseph Grenny and others discuss the best, and worst, ways to hold frank discussions at work....
It takes an emerging leader about six months to turn the new, learned skills required for their job into "reliable habits," and that time can cost employers....
PROVO, UT – July 23, 2019 – A new study by VitalSmarts, a top 20 leadership training company, shows employees struggle to quickly and adeptly transition into their new roles. Specifically, they struggle to turn new skills into automatic habits required for reliable execution in...
For team members to thrive together in a task-filled work environment, they need to adopt these key habits....
Missed deadlines, decreased productivity, low morale and a culture of fear are all symptoms of a lack of trust and effective communication among team members....
The culture of "always on" and having more on your to-do lists than can reasonably be finished "is likely to affect your mood and overall productivity."...
Even if you have top-tier performers on your team, it takes only one or two people "who [miss deadlines, fail to make critical handoffs, work on the wrong priorities] to cut team performance by an average of 24%...
Joseph, many people know you through your work with VitalSmarts, your writing, influencer, crucial conversations and a host of others....
A new study by VitalSmarts, a top 20 leadership training company, shows that it takes only one to two team members who make even small fumbles (miss deadlines, fail to make critical handoffs, work on the wrong priorities) to cut team performance by an average of 24...
Most of us have been “feedsmacked” at some point in our life. In the midst of a meeting, an innocent walk down the hallway, or a performance review, someone delivers a verbal wallop that rocks our psychological footing. We looked at 445 such incidents when...
In a recent survey, we asked 1,335 employees the following question: What significant weakness does your boss have that is apparent to everyone in the office except the boss?...
Read Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny and Ron McMillan....
“Our bodies specialize in survival, so we have a natural bias to avoid situations that might harm us,” says Joseph Grenny, the coauthor of Crucial Conversations and the co-founder of VitalSmarts, a corporate training company....
A 2017 study by corporate training company VitalSmarts found this figure isn't too far off: High performers are responsible for 61 percent of their companies' work. In other words, they produce three times as much value as their peers....
It only takes one or two team members to undermine results for the entire group when they mess up, research from leadership training experts Vitalsmarts shows. Overwhelmed and less-productive team members affect performance by as much as 24%....
Successful groups spoke openly about anticipated problems. They were masters of what we call crucial conversations. They effectively talked about concerns and barriers and thus created the social support needed for success....
Just one or two underperforming workers can jeopardize an entire team's success, according to a survey by leadership training company VitalSmarts. When a worker fails to prioritize project tasks, misses deadlines and generally underperforms, teams can lose as much as 24% of their productivity, the...
VitalSmarts, a Provo company that specializes in leadership training, found in a recent study that even small, seemingly unimportant mistakes by just one or two members of a company can cut team performance by an average of 24%. Examples of “mistakes” include missed deadlines, failure...
PROVO, UT – May 16, 2019 – A new study by VitalSmarts, a top 20 leadership training company, shows that the success of critical projects and programs requires the skill, energy and focus of every team member. Specifically, it only takes 1 to 2 team members...
Some people dread asking for time off, and assume taking less time off is expected of them, according to Joseph Grenny, co-founder ofVitalSmarts and co-author of The New York Times best-seller, "Crucial Conversations."...
In a recent VitalSmarts survey of 200 managers, executives said that fewer than 18 percent of employees received clear, constructive feedback. Although the study was of all employees, many of those not receiving feedback were executives, says Justin Hale, master trainer, VitalSmarts, a leadership training...
"Before you take off, block out time on your calendar for the morning of your return," said Justin Hale, speaker, training designer and master trainer at VitalSmarts....
We asked more than 1,300 employees to describe their leader’s style under stress and the impact of that behavior. According to respondents, one in three leaders are seen by their direct reports as someone who fails to engage in dialogue when the stakes get high....
But accountability is more than just a trend. Our research shows it’s a leading indicator of high performance. On top-performing teams, peers immediately and respectfully confront one another when problems arise. Not only does this drive greater innovation, trust and productivity, but it also frees...
In a recent survey, we asked 1,335 employees to disclose their boss’ significant weakness—one that everyone knows and discusses covertly to each other, but not directly with their manager. Asking the question was like opening the flood gates on managers behaving badly. Eight out of...
A survey conducted by the consultancy VitalSmarts and released this week by Forbes magazine points out the worst mistakes anyone can make in their career. The study found that 83% of respondents have already seen someone making mistakes that had catastrophic impacts that cost their business...
What do most of us do in such situations? Another research carried out by VitalSmarts shows that there is not much. Only one in ten people draw attention to the interlocutor, while the majority are silent, ignoring the annoying behavior (37%), looking eloquently or showing dissatisfaction in a...
Most workers (80%) said they shared an open secret -- an issue readily discussed with peers in the office but not directly with the boss -- about their manager, in a study of 1,335 employees by VitalSmarts, a leadership training company....
A new study of more than 1,300 people from VitalSmarts, a leadership training company, shows that three in five people are already feeling frantic, having agreed to accomplish more than they can actually get done in the time available to them....
TrainingIndustry.com named VitalSmarts as a Top 20 Leadership Training Company for the fifth consecutive year. Selection to the annual list is based on the following: Thought leadership and influence within the training industry, breadth of programs and audiences served, delivery methods offered, company size and...
A new study by leadership training company VitalSmarts showed what we already knew: discussions on performance at work can be a one-way street....
More than three-quarters of employees said their managers have "glaring flaws," but few managers realize their shortcomings, a new survey from VitalSmarts revealed....
PROVO, UT – March 12, 2019 – A new study by VitalSmarts, a top 20 leadership training company, shows that across corporate America, performance discussions are one-sided. When it comes to sharing critical performance feedback, managers can speak freely with their direct reports, but direct...
Our latest research reveals that many people overcommit themselves. Sixty percent of respondents said their to-do lists contain more than they can complete in the given timelines....
Our latest research shows that Randy and Carmen are among the 60% of people who are completely overcommitted. Specifically, these people report their to-do lists contain more than they can complete in the given timelines....
Our latest study shows that when it comes to managing our time and to-do lists, we’re habitually overcommitted and overwhelmed. Of the 1,353 people we surveyed, 3 out of 5 agreed that they have more to accomplish than they can actually do in the time...
Most of us intuitively get how important it is to know what to do in times of adversity and even what not to do under adversity. But until now, you may not have known just how important it really is. A new study, conducted in November 2018 among 1,334 employees by...
Luckily, author and corporate trainer Joseph Grenny has substantial experiencing navigating these less-than-smooth office dialogues, and he recently wrote an article for the Harvard Business Review outlining several important steps to take before engaging in a challenging talk in the workplace....
If you don't say no, you can end up with more work on your plate than you can handle. That's happening to a lot of workers, according to a new survey from VitalSmarts, a leadership training company....
According to a report by VitalSmarts, which provides workplace leadership training, just 1% of workers said they would be confident speaking up at work if they saw an issue, and 37% said they feared speaking up would hurt their career or label them as a complainer....
Our latest research confirms, yet again, that the way a manager performs in these crucial moments has a disproportionate effect on their personal influence and their people. The research also shows, however, that a shockingly large majority of managers and leaders buckle under pressure....
According to Emily Gregory, the vice president of development and delivery at leadership training provider VitalSmarts, training is most effective when it goes beyond defining what isn’t allowed, and provides alternative actions....
VitalSmarts, a leadership training company released findings from a study of more than 1,300 people showed that 3 in 5, or 60%, of people are overcommitted, with more on their to-do list than they can possibly finish....
If you don't say no, you can end up with more work on your plate than you can handle. That's happening to a lot of workers, according to a new survey from VitalSmarts, a leadership training company....
Consider this: Numerous best-selling and highly referenced books like Crucial Conversations and The Speed of Trust delve into the importance of having honest and brave dialogues in the workplace. ...
Ask an open-ended question to start the conversation, listen for clues to determine whether the error was caused by motivation or ability, and then provide targeted feedback and coaching. Identifying these influencers can increase work performance and efficiency, according to Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David...
Three in five people said they've agreed to take on more tasks than they can actually get done on their to-do lists, according to a new VitalSmarts study....
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High (McGraw-Hill Education, 2011) by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler...
Provo, UT – January 23, 2019 – The New Year usually inspires goal setting and big ambitions, but for most, taking on yet another commitment is the last thing they should do. A new study from researchers at VitalSmarts, a leadership training companyand home of...
The first thing to do when preparing for a crucial conversation is to reset your motives. You can radically change your motives by thoughtfully answering a simple question: What do I really want?...
The routine, good work we do day in and day out can easily be tainted by one bad day, one bad interaction or one bad blowup. While this fact should keep us vigilant to controlling our tempers and tongues, VitalSmarts’ latest research shows that many leaders struggle...
According to new research from leadership training company VitalSmarts, one out of every three managers don’t handle “high-stakes, high-pressure situations” very well....
Recent research from VitalSmarts found that employees who work for managers who respond poorly to stress are much more likely to consider leaving their jobs. They’re also more likely to be frustrated and angry — and more likely to complain. Great leaders understand how important it is...
We asked more than 1,300 people in an online survey to describe their leader’s style under stress and the impact of that behavior on their work. We found that a large majority of managers and leaders buckle under pressure....
If you want to skip a lot of the standard holiday activities, I don’t blame you; they’re not exactly a recipe for relaxation. According to a recent survey conducted by the leadership training company VitalSmarts, the top source of holiday stress was found to be juggling and scheduling...
A new survey by VitalSmarts found that 26 percent of people say that trying to stay healthy, active and sober over the holidays is one of their top five stressors, 44 percent of people live by the motto, "my diet starts in January”; 20 percent say...
Some of the pain is self-inflicted: 1 in 4 say they’ve taken on more than they can realistically get done, shows a new survey by Vitalsmarts, a leadership training company....
These observations are among the nearly 3,000 comments workers made about their bosses in a survey by VitalSmarts, a leadership training company based in Provo, Utah....
A new study by leadership training company VitalSmarts found that 1 in 3 managers can’t handle the heat, and their ineptitude is affecting team performance in a variety of ways....
A new study by researchers of leadership training company VitalSmartsfound that one in three managers can’t handle high-stakes situations. And their inability to communicate and manage through these situations is affecting team performance in a variety of ways....
One in four people say they have taken on more than they can handle during the holidays, according to a recent survey by VitalSmarts....
We asked 1,300 people to describe their manager’s style under stress and the impacts their leader’s style had on both their personal and their team results. And what we found is that a leader’s inability to communicate in high stakes, stressful situations directly impacts team...
A new survey by VitalSmarts, a leadership training company, asked 1,166 people aged 25 to 60 — 76 percent were female — about their stress levels around the holidays and where that stress comes from. It turns out that not only are people stressed, but...
A new survey by VitalSmarts, a leadership training company, asked 1,166 people aged 25 to 60 — 76 percent were female — about their stress levels around the holidays and where that stress comes from....
PROVO, UT – Nov. 29, 2018 – A new survey by VitalSmarts, home of Crucial Conversations® and Getting Things Done® Training, shows that many are just trying to survive the holidays—and this year the “happiest time of the year” might just do them in. Specifically, 1 in 4...
PROVO UT – November 27, 2018 –A new study by VitalSmarts, a corporate training organization, shows that when employees demonstrate incompetence in key standards, managers and leaders provide little-to-no feedback about their poor performance. And in the absence of accountability, employees fail to take ownership...
Couples who discuss tricky topics, like what's going down in the bedroom, are 10 times more likely to have a happy relationship than those who ignore difficult subjects, says Joseph Grenny, social scientist and co-author of Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. ...
Unfortunately, one out of every three managers is ill equipped to handle a high-pressure situation, according to data from leadership training company VitalSmarts....
Teams have the potential to enable each of its members to provide their very best efforts. And when you create psychological safety, you become the bridge between status quo and a more fully realized/ utilized team-based discretionary effort that yields those best efforts....
One in three managers is unable to handle high-pressure situations calmly, according to new research from VitalSmarts....
PROVO, UT – November 6, 2018 – A new study by researchers at VitalSmarts, a top 20 leadership training company, shows that a manager’s ability or inability to communicate in high stakes, stressful situations directly impacts team performance. Specifically, managers who clam up or blow...
Giving feedback can be an uncomfortable experience, but Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler and Stephen R. Covey offers practical strategies to tackle difficult situations...
Off-site employees who have little engagement with their office colleagues report feeling isolated and excluded, a recent study by leadership training company VitalSmarts says....
Without accountability, policies are paper tigers. Organizations know this, so “no accountability” is rarely the problem. What is common, is an accountability process that’s focused too exclusively on perpetrators and suspected perpetrators....
In a powerful interview on this blog with the "Behavioral Science Guys" David Maxfield and Joseph Grenny, they shared their research that explored gender bias as it relates to women vs. men speaking up forcefully and assertively....
This is what Joseph Grenny, co-author of the book Crucial Conversations concluded and further shared how couples live under the illusion that avoiding discussions on sensitive topics will avoid an argument and in turn, keep their relationship floating....
“Safety is about intent; not content. Learn to monitor and manage safety and you can talk to anyone about anything.” – Emily Gregory, VitalSmarts...
Our model of behavior change, known as the Six Sources of Influence, identifies all the forces that align to shape our behavior. Our research confirms that leaders who find a way to get all Six Sources of Influence working for, rather than against, change are 10...
Training Magazine's Top Training Videos Produced In-House Winner #2 "Jurrasic Sales Call" Judge comments: Clever, original, and funny. The video makes a strong statement—one I won’t forget soon....
This pattern of high potential, followed by increased responsibility, followed by catastrophic failure is surprisingly common. Our study of more than 1,000 professionals shows...
According to corporate trainer David Maxfield in an article for the American Society for Training and Development, resistance to change and a negative attitude are two of the top career-limiting habits that can keep you from achieving your true potential....
A Study of 1,100 Employees Found That Remote Workers Feel Shunned and Left Out by Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield...
We asked Vina Vidal Vicente, an expert on business communication and public affairs, on exactly how recognizing and managing a crucial conversation could affect your business. Her insights are based on the book “Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High,” by Kerry Patterson,...
“Communication is a crucial skill for anyone, especially new managers,” says Ngoc Nguyen, a career coach at Ama La Vida. She recommends Crucial Conversations, by Kerry Patterson, for the insights it provides to prepare for the inevitable: When you manage people, you’re going to encounter tough...
VitalSmarts research shows an accountability gap lasting three or fewer days costs up to $5,000 in lost time and resources as employees ruminate about problems instead of speaking up. When an accountability gap reaches five days or more, an estimated $25,000 is wasted. The sunk...
3. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Resolving Broken Promises, Violated Expectations, and Bad Behavior by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler...
The best solution, according to New York Times bestselling author Joseph Grenny and journalist Brittney Maxfield, is communication....
PROVO, UT – September 5, 2018 – VitalSmarts, a leader in corporate training and leadership development, announced today a partnership with Charles Duhigg, Pulitzer Prize winning author of the New York Times bestselling books The Power of Habit and Smarter Faster Better. VitalSmarts and Duhigg...
VitalSmarts research shows, ninety-five percent of a company’s workforce struggles to speak up to their colleagues about their concerns. As a result, they engage in resource-sapping avoidance tactics including ruminating excessively about crucial issues, complaining, getting angry, doing unnecessary work, and avoiding the other person...
I've been teaching the VitalSmarts Crucial Conversations course, coaching people through them, and even certifying others to instruct the course. And with all this knowledge, I limited the skills taught in the class to holding difficult conversations or coaching people through difficult moments. I didn't...
If you have ever doubted whether or not your boss is giving you full attention, being sunk into what he reads on the laptop screen, stop doubting. Despite assurances such as "I'm listening, keep talking", he does not listen. Tens of years ago, the research answered the...
Either way, nearly everyone (93%) has a coworker who doesn’t do their fair share, according to a 2013 VitalSmarts survey of 549 people — and four in five say their work quality diminishes when they have to cover colleagues’ work. Yet just 10% of people speak up...
Getting more done effectively and efficiently is a challenge for both employees and employers. And it’s an expensive one. A March 2018 study by leadership training company VitalSmarts found that 70% of managers currently have at least one “high-potential” (HIPO) employee they are considering letting go for poor...
According to a new study by VitalSmarts, organizations lose an average of $5,000 in productivity costs when a problem, process or strategy isn’t addressed within three days. We surveyed 792 professionals about the time lag between identifying and discussing problems, and we asked them about the...
So, what do you do when faced with these interruptions? According to another VitalSmarts survey, not much. Only 1 in 10 people speak up to the offender, while the vast majority remain silent by either ignoring the behavior (37%), giving dirty looks or showing disapproval in...
Employees who keep mum about a problem, process or strategy that just isn’t working out — often because they’re worried about being labeled a “complainer” or fear retaliation — can cost companies $25,000 or more in productivity costs, according to a recent report by leadership...
How quickly employees speak up is directly related to the health of an organization, according to a new study Provo, UT - July 11, 2018 - Organizations are susceptible to a wide variety of problems, including unproductive processes, misaligned strategies, underperforming colleagues and ineffective policies. According...
Now, a new survey of 1,100 people published in the Harvard Business Review suggests that I’m not alone. Here’s what the researchers found: 19% of women and 23% of men say, “My workplace has provided additional training.” 23% of women and 17% of men say, “I’ve seen...
Nearly two-thirds (63%) of the respondents in our survey describe #MeToo as “healthy,” and 45% say talking about harm they are experiencing is now safer. In fact, 41% of the women in our survey know someone who has shared their story of harassment since these...
"More than anything else in our lives, our habits determine our destiny. Their mysterious power comes from their automaticity, repetition, and cumulative power. For example, Benjamin Franklin wrote a summary of his day every night before bed. Arianna Huffington begins her days with 30 minutes...
A few years ago, the behavioral scientists at VitalSmarts conducted an experiment on value, and the circumstances that influence our determinations of something we want. Certainly scarcity and abundance affect our decisions. Emotional needs are in the mix, as is peer pressure. But so is...
This is particularly true for women, who face some unique challenges when it comes to getting ahead. New research by VitalSmarts, a leadership training and consulting company, shows that women face emotional inequality at work – their perceived competency decreases 35 percent when they're as assertive or...
But a similarly gloomy online survey from the leadership training company VitalSmarts revealed that just 34% of the more than 1,100 respondents were willing to address unwanted conduct when they saw or experienced it — and respondents indicated the movement hadn’t much impacted whether people were more...
Provo, UT – May 16, 2018 – While #MeToo continues to promote a wave of social media activity and much-needed awareness of sexual harassment and misconduct, a new study by researchers at VitalSmarts, home of the bestseller Crucial Conversations, shows little significant change—and some unintended...
And it seems as if our reasoning for this is rooted in some logic, despite being horribly depressing: women who are assertive or forceful (aka intent on pursuing their dreams and achieving their goals) are perceived as 35% less competent than non-assertive women, according to...
Not surprisingly, workers seldom take that route. A VitalSmarts study found that only 1 percent of respondents were willing to break the mold; roughly three out of 10 cited a negative organization as the reason for their silence. Anyone who’s seen a colleague punished for being honest...
Bad habits are often a form of self-preservation. For example, David Maxfield, the vice president of research for leadership training company VitalSmarts, told me he once had an employee who had been through the competitive ringer....
According to a VitalSmarts study on workplace bullying, 96 percent of us say we’ve experienced it, and 54 percent of bullies have been at it for years. If you are part of that 96 percent, you know it hurts, it harms, and it leaves a...
In fact, a March VitalSmarts survey of more than 1,000 managers and employees found that 70 percent of managers surveyed had at least one high-potential employee they were considering firing because of poor performance....
David Maxfield, vice president of research at VitalSmarts and coauthor of Crucial Accountability, Influencer and Change Anything, says the answer is to get the first meeting right....
Imagine this: You’re a general manager for a manufacturing company and orders are up. You know you should be celebrating, but instead, you feel gut punched. Your plants are facing severe capacity and material constraints and you know you can’t fill these orders. Now you...
Not surprisingly, workers seldom take that route. A VitalSmarts study found that only 1 percent of respondents were willing to break the mold; roughly three out of 10 cited a negative organization as the reason for their silence. Anyone who’s seen a colleague punished for being honest...
I’ve observed and studied friend-boss relationships — and even been on both sides of them — and now know what it takes for them to be successful. The key is having the right combination of patience and candor before and during the hiring process....
VitalSmarts received a LEAD award for Top Leadership Partner. For more than 30 years, Leadership Excellence, now a part of HR.com, has identified and recognized the top 500 leadership organizations and their strategies and solutions in its yearly ranking....
According to a VitalSmarts survey of 1153 global workers reported in Harvard Business Review (April 2018), remote employees feel left out and disadvantaged as a result of their status. And it goes far beyond ‘out of sight, out of mind.’...
Thankfully, the brain science and our work with people in many organizations shows if you change how you engage with these agreements and commitments, you open yourself to a whole new world of added mental peace as well as a whole lot of time. Here...
Book: Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Al Switzler, Joseph Grenny, and Ron McMillan "It’s all about how to have difficult conversations. I think especially right now, with what’s happening in our country and how divided we are, people don’t know how to have...
At VitalSmarts, we recently asked more than 800 people this same question. We found that three out of four people have wanted to be more productive, less stressed, and more present. Despite this prevailing desire to change the way work impacts our lives, less than one-tenth of the...
Business leaders surveyed by the cofounders of the leadership training company VitalSmarts, Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield (whom we interviewed recently), say they value innovation, initiative, candor, and teamwork from their workforces. Their employees, however, don’t see it that way. They say their bosses actually value obedience,...
"These high potentials have been successful," said best-selling author and expert in workplace productivity David Maxfield in a press release. "They have strong track records that have gotten them to where they are. But often, the productivity practices they've used in the past aren't up...
Provo, UT – March 6, 2018 – What good is potential if you don’t live up to it? A new study by experts at VitalSmarts, a leadership training company, shows 70 percent of managers currently have at least one employee, classified as someone with “high-potential”...
Wondering how to fix your business’s culture? If you’re like most business leaders, you probably are. VitalSmarts founders and researchers Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield found recently that a large majority of executives, managers, and employees have an unfavorable view of their culture, and that views of...
But here’s a plot twist for you: According to a study about communication in relationships conducted by VitalSmarts as a follow-up to the New York Times bestselling book series Crucial Conversations ($20), the right kind of arguing is far from a death sentence in a romantic partnership. Couples who engage in healthy conflict are...
TrainingIndustry.com, named VitalSmarts as a Top 20 Leadership Training Company for the fourth consecutive year. Selection to the annual list is based on the following: Thought leadership and influence within the training industry, breadth of programs and audiences served, delivery methods offered, company size and...
Remote employees could be costly to companies, but with proper expectations, clear communication, and face time, remote employees can improve a company’s bottom line. RewardExpert spoke with Justin Hale, Leadership Trainer and Content SME for VitalSmarts, one of the top leadership training companies, to find out...
"The biggest mistake that couples make is avoidance," Joseph Grenny, an author who was not involved with the study, told The Guardian. "We feel something but say nothing. At least until we can't stand it anymore …...
The co-author of the New York Times bestseller Crucial Conversations, Joseph Grenny, believes it’s the problem of avoiding conflict and communication that has a part to play in this unhappiness....
Many couples mistakenly believe that avoiding discussing sensitive issues means avoiding an argument, which, in turn, will be good for their relationship, said Joseph Grenny, co-author of the New York Times bestseller Crucial Conversations....
According to research published in Forbes, 75% of U.S. workers have been affected by workplace bullying. A survey by VitalSmarts puts this number at 96%....
According to Joseph Grenny, co-author of the New York Times bestselling book Crucial Conversations, arguing is a healthy part of a long-term relationship. In fact, couples who argue tend to be about 10 times more likely to stay together than those who never argue, which means I should be...
Joseph Grenny, co-author of the New York Times bestseller Crucial Conversations, told The Guardian, “the biggest mistake that couples make is avoidance.” He added, “We feel something but say nothing. At least until we can’t stand it anymore. So, we wait until we are certain to discuss it poorly before...
While you may not like to argue with your significant other, it probably happens sometimes. You may know couples who argue often and those who don’t. But there are several reasons why arguing may be good for your relationship. In fact, an online study, “Able Arguers,”...
A recent article in Harvard Business Review, by Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield, discussed their study of remote employees and their findings were powerful....
Crucial Conversations is ranked No. 9 on the list of 20 life-changing books you must read in 2017....
If your goal for 2018 is to maximize your time, then implementing the “two-minute rule” is a habit you’ll want to adopt now. This rule states that any action that can be carried out in two minutes or less is completed right away. According to...
Working remotely is a sought-after perk when it comes to employment, but that doesn’t mean it’s all rainbows and unicorns. Workplace politics can be more frequent and complicated when you work from home, according to research by Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield, coauthors of Crucial Conversations:...
But for all the perks of being productive in pajamas, there are challenges. As part of a recent study, VitalSmarts surveyed 1,153 remote employees and found they more often feel undervalued than their onsite associates do. Specifically, remote employees more frequently feel that coworkers talk behind their...
After exploring various examples of dicey situations, Joseph Grenny, author, keynote speaker, business performance social scientist, and cofounder of VitalSmarts, offers a line that managers can use to “interrupt the chaos” in the Harvard Business Review....
It can be surprisingly easy to bring order to a chaotic meeting — and to turn conflict back into conversation — if you know how. Perhaps you don’t have an angry mob yelling at your meeting but there are lots of crises that managers face...
According to researchers David Maxfield and Justin Hale from the leadership training company VitalSmarts, the one thing top employees do that sets them apart from average employees is use "capture tools." Rather than running the risk of forgetting a task, top-performing employees use a sticky note, app or...
But there are also downsides. A new survey conducted by corporate training firm VitalSmarts finds that a majority of remote workers (52 percent) feels that their colleagues don’t treat them equally....
An August VitalSmarts survey of more than 2,000 managers and employees asked them about co-workers they would rate a 10 out of 10. About half of both managers and peers said these '10' employees worked both harder and smarter. On top of that, 75 percent of leaders...
VitalSmarts was awarded two platinum Pixie Awards (scoring 9/10) for their videos: An Introduction to Crucial Conversations Online with Joseph Grenny and The B.S. Guys: The 4 Ways You’re Being Manipulated (and How to Stop It)....
You have probably said this once or twice. And you most likely meant no harm with your response. However, telling a coworker that a task isn’t your responsibility can cause you some serious professional drawbacks. The “not my job” approach to work is one of the five most...
Remote and flexible work opportunities are quickly becoming a differentiator for attracting and retaining top tech talent. But remote workers face unique challenges that on-site colleagues don’t, according to a new study from authors and social scientists Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield, including unequal treatment...
According to a new study by New York Times bestselling authors Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield, remote employees often feel undervalued by their coworkers. The research, which examined the challenges that remote employees face, surveyed 1,400 employees and found that nearly half (45%) of remote workers feel that their...
I once served on the board of a nonprofit with a group of men and women I deeply admired. Board meetings were an uninterrupted joy. Even lengthy conference calls were opportunities for spontaneous sharing, personal connection, and productive problem-solving. It was Camelot. Until it wasn’t....
David Maxfield and Joseph Grenny, authors of Crucial Conversations and Crucial Accountability, conducted a study of 1,400 employees. They found that 45 percent of their respondents primarily worked from home or some other remote site and that a significant number reported facing greater tensions with co-workers than on-site employees....
When you’re a remote worker, there’s a nagging thought that creeps in when your emails and messages go unanswered: Is everyone hanging out without me? When you’re not physically in the rooms where it happens, you can start to worry that you don’t have a...
According to a new survey from David Maxfield and Joseph Grenny, social scientists and authors of the best-sellers “Crucial Conversations” and “Crucial Accountability,” more than half (52%) of employees who work from home feel their on-site colleagues don’t treat them equally....
When it comes to virtual teams, if you’re out of sight, you’re also out of mind. While more and more people are working remotely, our recent study suggests that unless we take extra measures to build trust and connection with colleagues, we pay dearly for doing...
Provo, UT – November 2 – Working remote has become a highly sought-after job perk. Having the flexibility to live and work where you please, regardless of corporate headquarters, often draws people to take one job over another. But while popular and convenient, a new study...
Working from home may not be the Shangri-La it’s cracked up to be. In fact, remote workers are more likely than on-site workers to believe their associates don’t treat them equally, a new study shows....
A review is a great opportunity to discuss work styles and expectations—topics that aren’t always easy to broach during a hectic workday, says Glickman. Ask, “How can I make your life easier?” or “How can I help you achieve your goals?” Use the time to...
Your news could devastate the listeners, so be prepared for the flood of emotions without trying to sugarcoat what’s happening. Saying, “At least you still have your job” or “At least you still have our team intact” implies you aren’t acknowledging their pain, says Joseph...
VitalSmarts' client The University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine received a Gold Award in the Workforce Optimas Awards program for managing change through Crucial Conversations Training....
It’s no surprise managers rate their top performers as their most valuable employees. VitalSmarts’ latest research sought to measure just how much more valuable top performers are and exactly what it is they do that makes them so valuable....
“It’s always you,” says business social scientist Joseph Grenny, coauthor of Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. “It could be that you failed to communicate, and so it was a fact gap, or it could be an expectation gap, or it could be that on...
Provo, UT—October 4, 2017—VitalSmarts, an innovator in corporate training and leadership development, today announced the release of the Live Online edition of Getting Things Done® (GTD®) Training, based on the methodology from the bestselling book Getting Things Done – The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by...
VitalSmarts video "Mneumonic Nmagic" was awarded the No. 1 Top Training Video in the Produced In-House category in the Training Magazine TTV Awards....
Joseph Grenny, the author of “Crucial Conversations” and cofounder of VitalSmarts, a corporate leadership development company, told Moneyish that going to work can help employees work through their fear, grief and anger following a catastrophic event if the work environment is sensitive to everyone’s needs....
To answer this question, we tested the methodology described by David Allen in his book, Getting Things Done to see whether the GTD practices could make someone a ten. We had 2,072 respondents assess the impact of their production practices on two key areas: performance...
Joseph Grenny says that in every organization he's ever studied where there was a strong sense of moral motivation, the leaders were always storytellers. They understood and acted on their responsibility to overcome the inevitable alienation of routine organizational life by connecting employees with those...
It’s obvious that some employees perform at higher levels than others—but why? David Maxfield, vice president of research for the leadership-training firm VitalSmarts, studied 1,594 managers and employees and found that high performers have adopted smart habits, one of which is an important ritual for...
VitalSmarts' Crucial Conversations Online Trainer Certification was award a Silver Award in the Best Use of Video for Learning category in the Human Capital Management Excellence Awards sponsored by Brandon Hall Group....
According to a study by leadership training company VitalSmarts, 83 percent of managers and 77 percent of employees are less stressed when they exhibit the productivity habits and traits of top performers. These include organization, time management skills, attention to detail, making to-do lists, keeping...
David Maxfield shares 5 habits that can be adopted by anyone to improve individual and team performance as well as reduce stress....
It’s no surprise managers rate top performers as their most valuable employees. What might not be as obvious is the massive impact a top performer has on an organization. A recent study revealed employees rated by their managers as “nines” and “tens” on a 10-point performance scale...
VitalSmarts surveyed 1,025 managers and employees about a time when they had a concern at work but failed to voice it. From hundreds of stories emerged five categories of people who go silent rather than communicate concerns....
Provo, UT—September 6, 2017—VitalSmarts, an innovator in corporate training and leadership development, today announced the release of a new edition of Getting Things Done® (GTD®) Training, based on the methodology from the bestselling book Getting Things Done – The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David...
Justin Hale says your personal productivity turns on behaviors, not tools....
A VitalSmarts Certified Trainer shares five steps for handling some of the most tricky and crucial conversations in the workplace....
Based on a study that included hundreds of managers, VitalSmarts (a corporate training and leadership development firm) found that 97 percent of employees have at least one career limiting habit -- a behavior that restricts their potential at work. The top five most common were: ...
Aggressive employees can undermine safety and lower productivity, because they make the people around them go into fight-or-flight mode. According to a VitalSmarts survey, "Eighty percent of bullies in the workplace affect five or more people."...
According to a VitalSmarts study, a corporate training and leadership development firm, which examined 1,650 promotions, 92 percent of the respondents said poor interpersonal skills hinder progression. The same research revealed that strong interpersonal skills combined with substantial contributions and caring about your organization are the...
Have a problem at work? Get in line. Half of office workers say they’re overworked, and 75% say they don’t have access to the latest technology to help them do their jobs, according to the Staples Business Advantage Workplace Index. Three-quarters of people say slacker...
It’s no surprise managers rate top performers as their most valuable employees. But what might not be as obvious is the massive impact a top performer has on the organization. A new study by VitalSmarts revealed employees rated by their managers as a “9” or “10” on a...
A survey of 1,500 participating managers and employees by leadership training company VitalSmarts found that top performers don't work longer hours than their peers, they work smarter. To work smarter, researchers suggest communicating more clearly and more often with your manager and colleagues....
A new study from leadership training company VitalSmarts reveals that top-rated employees perform better than their colleagues because they work smarter — not harder — when it comes to completing tasks....
While many people may think success is born of the stress of long hours, chaotic schedules and hundreds of unread emails, a new study from leadership training company VitalSmarts reveals just the opposite is true for top-rated employees....
VitalSmarts survey of 1,600 managers and employees found that 83 percent of leaders and 77 percent of workers say that top performers have less stress and increased productivity because of their habits....
Provo, UT – August 1, 2017 – It’s no surprise managers rate top performers as their most valuable employees. But what might not be as obvious is the massive impact a top performer has on the organization. A new study by VitalSmarts revealed employees rated...
Joseph Grenny gives leaders advice on working with their teams to resolve conflict. He says there are times when leaders will want to intervene and times when it's best to let employees work through issues themselves....
Joseph Grenny advises people to discuss issues in private, and to not overplay the risks of speaking up. ...
David Maxfield discusses the results of VitalSmarts study into the culture of tech. The unique nature of the tech world doesn’t appear to be changing any time soon. What can change and change quickly is a manager’s ability to manage the idiosyncratic challenges that come...
VitalSmarts Trainer, Kelly Andrews, write that our siloed cultures can be broken up once we internally change our motivation and practice speaking up. As we start to challenge the conventions that hold us back from dialogue and create psychological safety in our interactions, others will...
A new study by New York Times bestselling authors, Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield revealed that gender bias in the workplace is real, finding that women’s perceived competency drops by 35% and their perceived worth falls by $15,088 when they are judged as being "forceful" or "assertive."...
Joseph Grenny give leaders advice on motivating and unmotivated workforce....
A new VitalSmarts study found that people don't get as much pleasure from their experiences when they're "focused on capturing rather than experiencing." Turns out that social media 'Likes' are a low-effort way of producing a feeling of social well-being that takes more effort to get...
Joseph Grenny says one way to foster happiness in the workplace is to encourage conflict resolution. Encourage face-to-face communication, in a safe environment, where the employees can discuss and work out conflicts. Then be sure to follow up, asking how the meeting went. That follow-through will...
Joseph Grenny shares advice on giving employee feedback about sensitive topics--like one's appearance. Don't understate or sugarcoat your message....
VitalSmarts was awarded a Silver Telly Award for it's video "Don't Suck At Talking: Introducing Crucial Conversations Online." It was also awarded a Bronze Telly Award for it's video "How to Talk Politics with Friends & Still Have Some Left."...
Although company culture is meant to guide employee actions and bring teams together, many employees have a negative view of these principles. In fact, a survey of 1,200 employees and executives conducted by researchers at VitalSmarts in July found a gap in how leaders and...
Gossip, rudeness and playing “favorites” hurts the quality of healthcare in facilities, a new report alleges. A survey of more than 1,200 physicians, nurses and other healthcare staff by VitalSmarts identified common communication issues among providers. In addition to gossip, the respondents said a failure to...
A survey of more than 1,200 physicians, nurses and staff, led by Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield of the training company VitalSmarts, identified five common behavioral problems that more often than not go unaddressed in hospitals and other healthcare settings....
Provo, UT—May 9, 2017—A new study by VitalSmarts suggests that slackers, timid supervisors, toxic peers and arrogant doctors are common in healthcare. But while frustrating—those behavior problems aren’t the real problem. The real problem in healthcare is silence. The study of workplace drama in healthcare found...
Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, and Judith Honesty discuss the results of VitalSmarts research on unconscious bias in the workplace. They share tips for confronting discrimination to reduce the harmful effects of bias....
Mediocrity is not destiny. These four leadership practices can shift things in the right direction....
Emily Hoffman and Justin Hale talk about the myths of online learning and how the new Crucial Conversations Online course from VitalSmarts debunks those myths to create a stellar learning experience....
Joseph Grenny says individual performance problems are far easier to address if you’ve done the work of establishing a norm of excellence. He shares four simple but important practices that if implemented can rapidly and profoundly shift a group’s expectations in a way that leads...
David Maxfield and Judith Honesty share the results of their latest study on workplace discrimination and impact of unconscious bias....
VitalSmarts latest research on workplace bias identified several ways in which people discriminate against others. Whether the discrimination was subtle or overt, those who experienced it heard these messages: "Don't be yourself." "You're not considered credible." "Just kidding." "Anything goes after hours.""You're unwelcome." "Gotcha."...
VitalSmarts, the leadership training company asked 500 victims of discrimination to share workplace experiences that made them feel excluded, unwelcome, discounted, etc. based on their race, gender, age and a host of other diversity-related criteria. They found workplace bias to be pervasive, permanent and unmanageable for...
Provo, UT—March 21, 2017—A new study by VitalSmarts, a Top 20 Leadership Training Company, found that more than a quarter (27 percent) of those who experience discrimination at work report the bias to be common, impactful and beyond their ability to manage. The result of...
Joseph Grenny says the reason so few of us speak up about sensitive issues is that we are wired for mistrust. As a result, we have a conservative bias: When in doubt, play it safe. Hide in a bush. Pick up a rock. Keep silent. Grenny...
Joseph Grenny provides advice on how to accept criticism and feedback....
David Maxfield says your blind spots for your own bad habits could be keeping you from raises and promotions. In a recent study for VitalSmarts, Maxfield interviewed managers who identified the top five career killers....
Provo, UT—February 22, 2017—VitalSmarts, a TwentyEighty, Inc. company and an innovator in corporate training and leadership development, today announced that the award-winning Crucial Conversations Training course is now available online in a completely on-demand, asynchronous learning experience designed to reach the modern learner. While Crucial Conversations...
"Poor habits over time can absolutely derail a person's career," says David Maxfield, vice president of research at corporate training company VitalSmarts. "And most often they are not aware of what they're doing." Maxfield shares 4 career-limiting habits and how to overcome them....
Many employers require a formal letter of resignation, but it's worth viewing this as an opportunity rather than a burden. "Don't use your letter to point to negatives, to settle gripes, or to say 'I told you so,'" said David Maxfield, vice president of research...
TrainingIndustry.com, named VitalSmarts as a Top 20 Leadership Training Company for the third consecutive year. Selection to the annual list is based on the following: Thought leadership and influence within the training industry, breadth of programs and audiences served, delivery methods offered, company size and...
Joseph Grenny writes that you can change your own career-limiting habit if you identify your own crucial moments, seek out brief and intentional opportunities for deliberate practice, and build skills in addressing emotional barriers to your progress. Don’t let fear or inertia hold you back....
According to a recent study by VitalSmarts, nine out of 10 U.S. voters said the 2016 election was more polarizing and volatile than ever before. So, how do you cover what will inevitably be a topic of discussion, without starting a bitter debate with coworkers? Read the...
PROVO, UT – January 10, 2017 – VitalSmarts, a TwentyEighty Inc. Company, and leader in corporate training and leadership development, announced today a partnership with The David Allen Company. VitalSmarts will be the North American distributor for The David Allen Company’s premier training product, Getting...
A new study lead by VitalSmarts Cochairman and Cofounder Joseph Grenny and Vice President of Research David Maxfield found that a scant 1 percent of employees feel “extremely confident” when it comes to voicing their concerns in the workplace at critical moments. Furthermore, a third of employees...
Joseph Grenny says that, in his experience, a company's overall "health" is often linked to the "average lag time between identifying and discussing problems." The longer managers wait to address problems in the workplace, the greater the negative impact on things like engagement, employee satisfaction and productivity....
VitalSmarts research found that eight out of ten U.S. adults "either overspend or have a spouse or partner who overspends during the holiday season, and nearly 56% say it is difficult to discuss holiday spending with their spouse/partner."...
A VitalSmarts survey uncovered a huge gap between how management and employees view the company's leadership style and culture. Even worse, this gap markedly influences productivity and turnover. When employees thought leaders valued obedience, deference to authority, predictability and competition with peers, they were 32 percent...
David Maxfield shares the results of VitalSmarts study on the organizational costs of conversations either not held, or held poorly. He offers tips for changing cultures of silence into cultures of dialogue to mitigate those costs....
Provo, UT – December 6, 2016 – Steve worked with a colleague whose disrespectful behavior and verbal abuse went unchecked. Steve never said anything. His colleagues never said anything. And even management avoided the conversation with the office bully. Instead, they complained and gossiped about...
A recent survey by VitalSmarts found that 83% of people had seen someone make a blunder that had catastrophic results for their career, reputation, or business, and 69% admitted that they themselves had done something that had damaged their careers....
According to a study by Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield, 8 out of 10 people either overspend or have a spouse or partner who overspends during the holiday season, and nearly 56% say it is difficult to discuss holiday spending with their spouse or partner...
Provo, Utah, November 22, 2016 – Each holiday season, it’s the same old story: you endure a year-long battle of meticulously balancing and budgeting your funds, only to blow your budget come Black Friday. If this form of holiday gluttony sounds familiar, you’re not alone. New...
Joseph Grenny shares best practices for confronting a gossiping boss. With the right skills, you really can talk to anyone--even your boss--about anything in a way that produces results and maintains the relationship....
Is Black Friday breaking your budget? Turns out you're not alone. VitalSmarts research shows 8 out of 10 couples overspend during the holidays, but most never address their squandering partner. Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield share tips for holding this crucial conversation....
VitalSmarts was awarded Best Soft Skills Solution for Crucial Conversations Online at DevLearn's DemoFest awards....
Joseph Grenny explains, "the best apology is a glimpse into your own accountability." When you're truly sorry for something, you take a sincere look into your own feelings and actions to express your remorse....
Joseph Grenny talks with Glen Mills about how to discuss politics with friends and family cordially and respectfully. They share results of their latest study that reveal it's not whether you disagree with others' opinions that determines the success of your relationship, but how you...
Research by Joseph Grenny, co-author of Crucial Conversations, shows 81% said “difficult or emotionally charged” conversations they have held over social media remained unresolved. Two out of five blocked, unsubscribed to, or defriended someone over arguments that took place via social media....
VitalSmarts' research shows that those who consistently speak up aren’t necessarily more courageous; they’re simply more accurate....
Joseph Grenny shares the best practices of issuing a genuine apology. He says, "The purpose of an apology is not to restore trust, but to confirm to others that we deserve it."...
Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield share the results of their study examining the unique culture of tech and what mangers can do to improve team performance amidst the industry's challenges....
The July 2016 Corporate Culture Chasm survey from VitalSmarts found a disparity between how employers and employees perceive competition. While leaders say they value teamwork in the workplace, employees say they believe employers really want to see staff compete with one another....
When confronting inappropriate comments, sooner is always better says Joseph Grenny, cofounder of VitalSmart and co-author of the book Crucial Conversations. “Don’t bite your tongue, even for a second. When inappropriate remarks border on any kind of verbal harassment, witnesses must speak up and confront the...
Provo, Utah – October 10, 2016 –VitalSmarts training programs have earned recognition by two prominent training and leadership development publications for their ability to help clients drive business impact and for the quality of their content. Chief Learning Officer awarded Gold Fields, a client of VitalSmarts,...
Joseph Grenny says that while every industry is unique, no sector can make the case for uniqueness better than tech. He shares four leadership rules for managing in tech to improve team performance....
VitalSmarts' Crucial Conversations Online Trainer Certification program received a Gold Award in Training Magazine's Learning Design Challenge in the Social/Collaborative Learning Category....
VitalSmarts partnered with our client, Gold Fields, to enter their Influencer Training initiative to reduce avoidable injuries on their mining worksites. The practice won the top award, Gold, in the Business Impact category from Chief Learning Officer....
Joseph Grenny says learning how to talk about politics in a productive manner can help you “manage other difficult conversations at work,” including peer performance reviews or disagreements over strategy and policy....
Training Magazine named “The Janitor Story” from Crucial Accountability the No. 1 training video produced in-house. ...
There is a large disconnect between how higher-ups perceive their organizational culture and the reality that employees experience. The July 2016 Corporate Culture Chasm survey, from VitalSmarts found that managers had a much more positive view of their corporate culture than did their employees....
VitalSmarts research shows the 2016 presidential election was more polarizing and divisive than ever before. Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield share tips for talking about politics with your loved ones in a way that can maintain the relationship....
VitalSmarts ranked 30 among 50 0f Utah Valley's fastest-growing companies. This was VitalSmarts' fourth consecutive year on the UV 50 list....
Provo, UT—September 14, 2016—In past elections, our front yards, t-shirts, car bumpers and water cooler conversations proudly campaigned for the presidential candidate of our choice. In 2016, most are afraid to utter the name of the person they plan to vote for on November 8. Research...
Joseph Grenny, a co-founder of the consulting firm Vital Smarts, notes, “Our research over the past 30 years has shown that you can largely measure the health of a team by measuring the average lag time between identifying and discussing problems.”...
David Maxfield shares best practices for recovering from seemingly catastrophic conversations. When you learn to apologize with honesty and respect, you can take control of a catastrophic situation and right the wrong. Your job and your relationships depend on it....
Company culture has become more and more important in the workplace, but when VitalSmarts surveyed 1,200 employees in July, it found that many employers were missing the mark....
If you want your workers to be productive, you must create an environment where they feel appreciated and involved. Unfortunately, VitalSmarts latest research shows there is a disconnect between management and employees in this area. Joseph Grenny offers tips for closing the culture chasm....
Why is it so difficult to hear criticism in the workplace? Joseph Grenny, a leading social scientist for business performance, believes it’s because people don’t receive feedback frequently enough....
Joseph Grenny says the primary reason people struggle with giving and receiving feedback is not a lack of proficiency but of frequency. He shares the success of implementing feedback at The Other Side Academy and tips leaders can use to create a similar environment in their...
Provo, Utah – August 15, 2016 – VitalSmarts, one of the world’s top leadership development companies, today announced that it awarded Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) the prestigious Albert Bandura Influencer Award at the annual REACH event which took place August 9 - 11 in...
VitalSmarts research shows avoiding conflict is costly. Each avoided conflict can cost an organization up to $2,000. Joseph Grenny offers tips for reducing conflict avoidance....
David Maxfield writes about how to design virtual training that performs equally as well as traditional classroom training....
VitalSmarts founders and researchers Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield found recently that a large majority of executives, managers, and employees have an unfavorable view of their culture, and that views of what an organization values differ drastically between management and employees....
Joseph Grenny and Beth Wolfson share research that says gender bias is a reality, but recognizing it can spark change....
Bosses beware: Researchers say most of you are out of touch with your employees’ day-to-day work experience. A study of 1,200 employees, managers, and executives found a big gap between what managers say they want their company culture to be and what employees say is truly...
A new study from VitalSmarts finds a large chasm between how employers and employees view corporate culture....
July 19, 2016 – PROVO, UT – A new study, released today, found a concerning gap between what managers say they want their company culture to be and what employees say is really valued by these same bosses. The study, conducted by Joseph Grenny and David...
Some 31% of respondents to a recent study by VitalSmarts executives Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield said making a catastrophic comment cost them a pay increase, a promotion, or their job....
Joseph Grenny shares a few new ways to think about the real causes behind some of the most common career-limiting habits — and what you can do about them....
Aabaco Small Business spoke with VitalSmarts VP of Research David Maxfield about the top four culture challenges tech managers need to master in order to effect change in their organizations....
A 2016 study from VitalSmarts, a leadership training company, interviewed 827 tech employees, to look at how culture affects performance in tech companies. The study identified some key ideas around culture and how it can positively or negatively affect the overall performance of the company. Based on...
Provo, Utah (June 14) – A new study released today identifies four culture challenges in tech companies that substantially affect a tech organization’s ability to execute and innovate. And yet, tech leaders receive little-to-no training or coaching on how to successfully manage these challenges. According to...
How can you discuss your feelings about violence like the Orlando mass shootings without upsetting coworkers? David Maxfield, vice president of research at VitalSmarts, says, “ask yourself what the purpose of having this conversation is. If you want to express sadness for the victims or support,...
Joseph Grenny shares a few best practices for addressing the human dynamics that frequently drive negotiations....
If you have constructive feedback to offer, how do you avoid a "pink slip of the tongue"? David Maxfield shares tips for delivering criticism in a constructive and respectful way....
A study by Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield, cofounders of corporate training firm VitalSmarts, found that 1 in 3 people have been “attacked, insulted, or called names” over political clashes, and 1 in 4 have had a political debate hurt a relationship. According to the...
If you're like most people you avoid political conversations at all costs but there are ways to keep it cordial. Glen Mills sat down with New York Times best selling author Joseph Grenny to talk about just that. He's been studying the impact of political...
How acrimonious is the 2016 presidential race? A new survey finds that 90 percent of Americans say the bout between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is more polarizing and controversial than the 2012 election - to the point that it has compromised their personal relationships. Some appear to be...
Joseph Grenny writes that a recent study by VitalSmarts found that silence is killing customer service. We asked subjects how often they witness a fellow employee underserving, or even abusing, a customer. Then we asked: What happens next? Does someone in your organization speak up and address...
Provo, UT—May 3, 2016—As the primary elections for the 2016 U.S. presidential race come to a close, the media is buzzing about unprecedented contested elections and unexpected slug fests over the Democratic and Republican party nominations. And the drama doesn’t end with the news. A new...
Joseph Grenny shared seven of his favorite interventions for stopping a meandering meeting. These tips are tactful things anyone can do to not only take responsibility for my own investment of time, but to become a healthy voice for the silent majority....
VitalSmarts has come up with a list of what we'll describe as "five career-crushing ways to express yourself," and we've adapted that survey-supported list here. The conversations and exchanges that require some degree of caution include: offering feedback to a co-worker; discussing race, politics, religion...
No matter how progressive, open and casual your workplace, there are some conversations that should never take place. VitalSmarts research identifies five conversations to avoid at all costs....
VitalSmarts research shows we all put our foot in our mouth at work. "It happens to all of us from time to time. I don’t think any of us have particularly learned how to deal with it when it does. We could all use help,”...
VitalSmarts recently surveyed 775 U.S. employees and found that 69% admitted they had said something at work that they later had cause to wish they hadn’t. Of those, VitalSmarts reports, 27% said inserting foot in mouth had “undercut or destroyed a working relationship,” and almost one in...
A recent survey by VitalSmarts found that 83% of people had seen someone make a blunder that had catastrophic results for their career, reputation, or business, and 69% admitted that they themselves had done something that had damaged their careers....
VitalSmarts research shows we all put our foot in our mouth at work. "It happens to all of us from time to time. I don’t think any of us have particularly learned how to deal with it when it does. We could all use help,”...
Joseph Grenny shares five skills to halt, and sometimes reverse, a conversation meltdown....
What do you say when you disagree with someone who has more power than you do? How do you decide whether it’s worth speaking up? And if you do, what exactly should you say? It’s a natural human reaction to shy away from disagreeing with a...
A new study by New York Times bestselling authors Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield found five common career killing comments, and the top comment involves giving critical feedback....
March 8, 2016 – Provo, UT – Marianne C. thought she was in a “safe” meeting where open discussion was encouraged and yet, following the meeting, she found herself in and out of the discipline process and shortly thereafter demoted—all because of one comment. Pam S....
TrainingIndustry.com, named VitalSmarts, a TwentyEighty company, to the Top 20 Leadership Training Companies List for the second consecutive year. Selection to the annual list is based on the following: Thought leadership and influence within the training industry Industry recognition and innovation Breadth of programs and range of audiences...
Research continually tells us multitasking decreases productivity rather than increasing it. By dividing your focus, you’re increasing your stress levels and decreasing your performance abilities, write Joseph Grenny for Harvard Business Review. Grenny shares five ways you can minimize your workplace distractions....
VitalSmarts received a LEAD award for Top Leadership Partner. For more than 30 years, Leadership Excellence, now a part of HR.com, has identified and recognized the top 500 leadership organizations and their strategies and solutions in its yearly ranking....
VitalSmarts received a LEAD award for Best Experienced/Senior Leader program. For more than 30 years, Leadership Excellence, now a part of HR.com, has identified and recognized the top 500 leadership organizations and their strategies and solutions in its yearly ranking....
VitalSmarts received a LEAD award for Best Train the Trainer program. For more than 30 years, Leadership Excellence, now a part of HR.com, has identified and recognized the top 500 leadership organizations and their strategies and solutions in its yearly ranking....
Provo, Utah – Feb. 18, 2016 – Two of the most prominent training and workforce development professional organizations in the world have recognized VitalSmarts for its contributions in the industry. TrainingIndustry.com, named VitalSmarts, a TwentyEighty company, to the Top 20 Leadership Training Companies List for the...
This Norwegian publication shares VitalSmarts research that shows gender bias exists for women in business....
A lot of couples might keep it to themselves when they're mad at each other because they're scared of starting potentially relationship-threatening arguments. But a new study by VitalSmarts has found that avoiding these conversations is actually more likely to do a relationship in....
The author used Crucial Conversations in a high-stakes relationship with her son. In addition to using the skills with her family, she says, "I find myself consciously employing the techniques in numerous situations: in a director hire for our charter school, in exchanges about difficult...
Author Kerry Patterson writes that if you want to create a high-impact learning environment, start with genuine problems and end with real solutions. Avoid solutions that mask tactics as outcomes or call for miracles....
Arguing may not be such a bad thing. In fact, a new survey by VitalSmarts that found finds couples who engage in healthy conflict are 10 times more likely to have a happy relationship than those who ignore difficult conversations....
A lot of couples might keep it to themselves when they're mad at each other because they're scared of starting potentially relationship-threatening arguments. But a new study by VitalSmarts has found that avoiding these conversations is actually more likely to do a relationship in....
Provo, Utah – Jan. 20, 2016 – VitalSmarts, a TwentyEighty company, won a Brandon Hall Group Silver award for excellence in learning management technology for external training, the company announced Wednesday. VitalSmarts was recognized for achieving inspiring results with the VitalSmarts Instructional Platform. The VitalSmarts Instructional...
Joseph Grenny writes that most of us are blind to the many forces that shape our choices. We overestimate the degree to which we are the product of conscious choice and grossly underestimate the power of situational and social forces. It’s time we learned to...
When trying to change your behavior, the authors of Change Anything don't write off willpower altogether. However, they do assert that there are five additional factors that influence whether you will successfully make changes in your life. Learn how to utilize all six sources of...
According to author Joseph Grenny, 70 percent of people who fail to keep their New Year's resolutions lose more than $1,000, reported Time in 2014. If you're one of those people, that's a lot of wasted energy and money down the drain....
David Maxfield, author of Change Anything, has studied failed resolutions. He's also studied what the successful few do who actually succeed at changing behavior. His research shows those who include six sources of influence in their resolution plans are 10 times more likely to succeed...
VitalSmarts research, conducted by Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield, found that women’s perceived competency drops by 35% and their perceived deserved compensation by $15,000 when they're seen to be assertive or forceful—violating ingrained cultural expectations for women to be caring and nurturing....
Simply gritting your teeth and attempting to ignore nagging interruptions at work doesn’t work. Master these five ways to take control of your environment so it stops controlling you....
Bad customer service is costing the average company $54,511 annually per employee, according to a new study released by Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield, authors of Crucial Accountability....
VitalSmarts was awarded the silver award for the VitalSmarts Instructional Platform (VIP) -- the Company's proprietary training platform....
VitalSmarts was named among the best companies to work for in Utah in 2015....
Joseph Grenny writes that we’re facing a “crisis of silence” in the corporate world; people simply don’t hold their colleagues accountable for delivering poor customer service. The key to creating distinguishing customer service is to create a culture where anyone can speak up to anyone...
A VitalSmarts study reveals that many parents fail to communicate major changes in the home to their child’s teacher...
A study by VitalSmarts, a Utah-based company that focuses on leadership training, found that each employee who witnesses bad customer service and fails to speak up costs his or her company an average of $54,511 per year....
VitalSmarts research shows each employee who witnesses bad customer service and fails to speak up costs his or her company an average of $54,511 per year....
For the second consecutive year, VitalSmarts is ranked #12 in the Top Workplaces in Utah in the midsize business division by The Salt Lake Tribune....
Provo, Utah – Nov. 10, 2015 – Gary was flying home from his father’s funeral. His plane touched down, was delayed on the tarmac for 45 minutes and, due to a last-minute change of gates, Gary missed his connecting flight. Frustrated, tired and still grieving,...
For me the key to being productive while shuttling around the globe is to think of myself in the third person, as someone I need to carefully and deliberately influence. Here are the ways I do that....
As author and social scientist Joseph Grenny told Fast Company, it's important to "acknowledge what you know to be true and tell your boss how it caused your conclusion. Ask how your boss came to her conclusion. If you’re simply in a no-yes argument, you’re...
This is what Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler, the authors of Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, call “inventing a mutual purpose.” If your in-law hates a certain sports team, find a way to hate them too....
Need inspiration? Take a look at VitalSmarts ...
"Sadly [social media platforms] they have also become the default forums for holding high-stakes conversations, blasting polarizing opinions and making statements with little regard for those within screen shot,” says Joseph Grenny....
VitalSmarts won GOLD for Excellence in Community Service -- in Chief Learning Officer's 2015 Learning In Practice Awards -- for its efforts in helping the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) increase the number of KIPP school founders who make it to year four from 50...
Chicago & Austin, Oct. 12, 2015 — Chief Learning Officer magazine, published by Human Capital Media (HCM), the largest integrated media company in the human resources industry, announced the winners of its 15th annual Learning In Practice awards at a recognition ceremony last night preceding the Fall...
VitalSmarts win first place (Gold) in the Excellence in Community Service category of the 2015 Learning in Practice Awards, presented by Chief Learning Officer....
(None of this is easy, of course!) For further reading on this topic, I recommend Emotional Freedom by Judith Orloff and Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson and Joseph Grenny....
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High (Second Edition). (McGraw-Hill, $20). By Kerry Patterson...
If senior leaders and HR directors teach workplace managers the few basic skills to speak up to anyone – regardless of age or authority – employees can candidly and respectfully resolve conflict and improve productivity in today’s multigenerational workplace....
I’ve sat with many recently promoted leaders over the years — newly minted supervisors, first-time CEOs, and even recently elected political leaders — some who wondered what they had gotten themselves into ...
Learn how to deal with interpersonal conflicts. Read Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. ...
Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield issued a report that detailed "five life-event areas where failure to communicate can damage a child's ability to learn" ...
The vast majority of teachers — 94 percent — say it's important for them to know that a child's parents are divorcing, but just 23 percent of divorcing parents say they told their child's teacher, according to a new study....
A recent study explained that there's a significant disconnect between teachers and parents that could affect our children in school. Where do you even start to establish a connection with teachers? David Maxfield, vice president of VitalSmarts, the organization that conducted the study, offered some ideas:...
According to research by VitalSmarts, teachers and parents are great at communicating - just not in the areas each wants to know about. Parents, for example, say that teachers are not communicating with them on issues like drug abuse or depression. Teachers say that they...
I am not alone. A recent study by New York Times best-selling authors Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield found that 94 percent of teachers want to know about a recent divorce but only 23 percent of the parents who are getting divorced told the teachers!...
“Find a shared goal, and you have both a good reason and a healthy climate for talking,” writes Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler in “Crucial Conversations.”...
Joseph Grenny, a bestselling author and keynote speaker, writes in Harvard Business Review about his best practices for beating the pre-speech jitters....
Why aren’t teachers and parents talking more? Anecdotally, there were a variety of reasons, including that mental illness, divorce, an arrest and other life-changers, might be topics they don’t feel safe sharing. “There is shame and embarrassment,” Grenny says. “They probably don’t appreciate how profoundly...
There’s a crucial disconnect between parents and teachers, both vital players in a child's growth and development, according to the results of a new survey. VitalSmarts, a corporate training and leadership development company, surveyed 689 parents and 174 teachers from its national database of subscribers....
"Parents can have a significant influence on empowering teachers and should stay in touch on major life events in their children's life," said Grenny, co-founder of VitalSmarts, in an interview withEducation Week....
Problems at home — divorce, death, incarceration, illness — feel like intensely private affairs. But when you also have a kid in school, you might want to consider letting his or her teacher in on the news, as it can be critical to a child’s...
Wednesday, Grenny's and Maxfield's company, VitalSmarts, issued a report, "Silence at School," that identifies five life-event areas where failure to communicate can damage a child's ability to learn: a death in the family, a major illness, a divorce or another family disruption, mood changes and...
Provo, Utah – Aug. 26, 2015 – A fifth grader’s family was awakened by a SWAT team that held them at gunpoint and arrested the father on drug-related charges. The mother then sent her child to school without a chance to tell the teacher, who...
As part of the study, Grenny and Maxfield conducted an experiment to see if using a brief, framing statement (that allowed the speakers to explain their intent before sharing theircontent) could reduce social and emotional backlash ...
These stats [from VitalSmarts] are startling in and of themselves, but the most worrisome item in the report was that, “despite the risks to patients, less than 10 percent of physicians, nurses, and other clinical staff directly confronted their colleagues about their concerns.”...
According to a recent experiment by VitalSmarts, a corporate training company, women perceived as more aggressive in the office may be penalized for their behavior — at a price of $15,088, to be exact....
A new study from VitalSmarts, a leadership training company, found that women who speak forcefully risk losing more economic power (i.e. lower paychecks) than men who talk with equal assertiveness when addressing subordinates....
In his research, Grenny breaks it down: The first two domains, Personal Motivation and Ability, relate to sources of influence within an individual (motives and abilities) that determine their behavioral choices. The next two, Social Motivation and Ability, relate to how other people affect an individual's...
However, if the woman in question framed her aggressive statement by first saying something like, “I know it’s risky for a woman to speak this assertively, but I’m going to express my opinion very directly,” the social backlash was reduced by as much as 27 percent....
When a woman prefaces a harsh comment with a “framing” phrase, like “I know it’s a risk for a woman to speak this assertively, but I’m going to express my opinion very directly,” backlash can be reduced by as much as 27%. ...
Assure the person of your positive intentions in offering your critique. Pain is not an essential byproduct of feedback — it is the result of an absence of safety....
Many parents are living through the lens of their smartphone rather than in the moment: 80% of adults say they’ve seen parents put their attempts to get the perfect photo ahead of their child’s enjoyment of an event, according to a recent survey — “Society’s New...
This finding came about as the result of research conducted in June, which surveyed over 11,000 people about their experiences in the workplace. 4,517 of the 11,000 people they studied were asked to watch set-up performances on video ...
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High Again, this book isn't sales–specific, but it's absolutely sales–essential ...
Corporate training company VitalSmarts surveyed more than 11,000 people in June to reach its results, which included this silver lining: Sometimes acknowledging sexism can reduce its effects....
A study conducted by corporate consultancy VitalSmarts found that a woman's "perceived competence" fell 35 percent and her "perceived deserved compensation" dropped $15,088 when she spoke angrily or forcefully....
New research from VitalSmarts ...
My favorite conversational model to facilitate effective dialogue is outlined in the book Crucial Conversations....
Provo, Utah – August 5, 2015 – What if your colleagues discriminated against you just for being assertive? Unfortunately for many women, gender bias is a reality in today’s workplace. A new study about emotional inequality at work conducted by VitalSmarts, a TwentyEighty, Inc. company,...
Dave Levin has made keeping top principals a priority for his charter network. KIPP partnered with VitalSmarts, a corporate training and performance company, to help pinpoint what made principals stick around or leave....
These actions are sabotaging your career and workplace happiness. [No. 1]: Staying silent. A recent study conducted by Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield, co-authors of "Crucial Conversations," found that 56 percent of employees refrain from addressing troublesome issues at workfor more than a year....
David Maxfield recognizes that motivation and ability drive behavior and divides these domains into personal, social and structural sources....
And what other organizations can learn from KIPP's experiments in taking time for renewal. ...
That point was confirmed by the results of a recent study on workplace secrets by Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield, the authors of Crucial Accountability ...
Fed-up colleagues should confront bullies with examples of their bad behavior culled from several incidents, says David Maxfield ...
A new [VitalSmarts] study suggests most staff have at least one workplace grievance that they haven't voiced out loud. How to get them to talk....
A spouse should ask a mate’s permission before switching to a problem-solving role, says David Maxfield ...
Every unaddressed conflict wastes about eight hours of company time in gossip and other unproductive activities, says Joseph Grenny. “It’s an enormous drain on an organization."...
Until we get all six of the sources of influence flowing in the direction of change, we’ll continue to fail. Even more damaging, we’ll pin the failure on moral deficiencies in our people rather than on our own insufficient understanding of human behavior....
Another book in hand was “Crucial Conversations,” which she thought will help with developing deeper, broad relationships among employees. “Performance conversations, collaboration, merit pay — these are all important issues we need to deal with.”...
Frequent self-examination for the four indicators of the tribal virus — and intentional promotion of these three behaviors — will help you strike the right balance in building your team....
David Maxfield and Joseph Grenny, co-authors of a book called Crucial Conversations, recently did a study of 1,400 U.S. employees and managers and found that 56% refrained from bringing up a particular grievance, or more than one, usually out of fear of alienating someone they...
Provo, UT — June 24, 2015 — VitalSmarts, a TwentyEighty, Inc. company and an innovator in corporate training and leadership development, today announced its award-winning Influencer Training® classroom course is now available through the VitalSmarts Virtual Classroom™—its live, synchronous online learning platform powered by Adobe Connect™ and MeetingOne. Courses...
The book Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson is a wonderful resource to help us realize that human interactions can be difficult and that we can often misread the process unless we are willing to get our hands dirty and break down the communication machine....
Provo, Utah – June 17, 2015 – A new study shows employees can be just as dysfunctional as Elaine Benes and the characters on Seinfeld. In the hit 90’s sitcom, Elaine, along with Jerry, George and Kramer lock away their darkest secrets in the vault...
David Maxfield, coauthor of both “Crucial Confrontations” and “Influencer,” conducted a study for VitalSmarts in 2014 that found 96 percent of survey respondents experienced bullying at some point in their careers....
By Travis Bradberry Between the two of us, Joseph Grenny (bio below) and I have spent 50 years studying what makes people successful at work. A persistent finding in both of our research is that your ability to handle moments of conflict has a massive impact on...
Provo, Utah – June 15, 2015 – After nearly two decades of both educating and entertaining a worldwide audience with his New York Times bestselling books and monthly column, Kerrying On, author Kerry Patterson today released a new book, The Gray Fedora: Lessons on Life,...
If the person with questionable ethics is your boss, it’s best to proceed with caution. Joseph Grenny, co-author of Crucial Accountability, tells Fast Company that you should begin by letting your boss know you have their best interest in mind....
Simple principles appropriately applied can restore trust, create hope, and improve results. Even in the most complex political environments one can act with independence and integrity to do great things. And when leaders do the work required to mobilize effective behavior, remarkable things can be...
If your organization has found a way to tolerate or simply live with entrenched bad habits, then it's time you challenged these behaviors and turned them into productive work practices. If you don't, then this research suggests these bad habits will continue indefinitely and produce...
A study, facilitated by VitalSmarts, shows that an increasing amount of people are losing connection with their lives in order to earn 'Likes' and social media praise....
The book [Crucial Accountability] outlines keys skills we’re rarely taught in college or business school, such as how to foster greater personal accountability among teammates and how to deliver praise when things do go right to keep everyone motivated....
In 2005, VitalSmarts and the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) published a groundbreaking report called Silence Kills ...
[Joseph Grenny co-write this post with Dr. Travis Bradberry.] So how can you use emotional intelligence to master crucial conversations? There are five common mistakes you must avoid, and five alternative strategies you can follow that will take you down the right path....
The only way to win an argument is to never have one in the first place. Successful people know this—they don’t avoid conflict because they can do something productive with it before things get out of hand. Apply these strategies the next time you’re facing...
If you don’t want to end up at the bottom of the large precipice, the best step forward usually involves an overt, intentional, and systematic strategy for influencing the behaviors required to improve results....
Joseph Grenny, best selling author, social scientist and co-founder of VitalSmarts, outlines strategies you can take to foster positive change....
The best-selling book Crucial Conversations, discusses how you can express yourself (no matter how offensively) and feel heard as long as there is safety. Learning to become proficient at creating a sense of safety will allow you to help people express how they really feel....
Leadership development and research firm VitalSmarts recently carried out a survey that revealed a few alarming statistics. About 96 per cent of workers polled had witnessed workplace bullying...
A recent VitalSmarts survey reported that 91% of the more than 1600 people involved had seen tourists miss out on an important moment by trying to capture it on social media. Since buyers are "tourists" in someone else's real estate, this research may be extrapolated to...
The results of collaborative research studies conducted by organizations that represent professionals who care for women during labor and birth indicate that health care providers may frequently witness, but may not always report, problems with safety or clinical performance. Some of these health care providers...
"People have a hard time saying 'no'––period––and when you introduce power, it gets exponentially worse," says Joseph Grenny, coauthor of Crucial Conversations ...
Last month the thought leaders at VitalSmarts published an article in their online Newsletter about how to avoid making stupid choices because of peer pressure. The article, One Simple Skill to Overcome Peer Pressure, teaches a valuable skill that we can all benefit from in...
As suggested in Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, et al, we feel the answer lies within the previous question -- we need to make the conversation safe...
David Maxfield was recently interviewed on-air on CBC Radio (Toronto) for the program “The Current” — about VitalSmarts’ latest study “Society’s New Addiction: ‘Likes' Over Life.” Listen here to the 8-minute segment in which David tells the personal story that prompted him to do this study...
Si vous voulez vraiment accélérer un changement et faire adopter de façon généralisée de nouveaux modes de fonctionnement ou créer de nouvelles habitudes, vous devez trouver des leaders d’opinion et les impliquer dans vos projets de changement –trouvez ces personnes dans votre entreprise et faîtes-en...
Sometimes the volume or nature of a worker’s jokes makes it necessary for a manager to intervene. While this conversation can be uncomfortable, silence is not an option because it implies permission for the undesirable behavior to continue. David Maxfield, vice president of research at...
“‘Likes’ are a low-effort way of producing a feeling of social well-being that takes more effort to get in the real world,” said Greeny in the study. “This study is a warning that we are beginning to take the easy over the real.”...
Co-authors of New York Times bestsellers like “Crucial Conversations,” Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield, recently analyzed how “likes” and the need for other social media praise impact our lives. The results paint a picture of a media-obsessed society and found, for one thing, that 58 percent...
58 percent of clinicians felt unsafe about speaking up about a problem they observed or were unable to get others to listen. This statistic first appeared in a 2005 report by VitalSmarts and the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) called "Silence Kills."...
It is possible to handle sensitive topics without the benefit of seeing faces, so long as you can accurately imagine them, and discipline yourself to respond to those imagined cues. When it becomes clear either your imagination or interventions are insufficient, make visual contact as...
Joseph Grenny, a New York Times best-selling author who has continued to go on dates with his wife during his 26 years of marriage, agrees. “Behavior is always a team sport,” Grenny told the National. “Other people play a role in my behavior, influencing, provoking. It’s...
58 percent of respondents claimed that attempting to hone the perfect post has prevented them from enjoying life. The survey was conducted by behaviorists and best-selling authors Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield....
Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield, co-authors of New York Times bestsellers like Crucial Conversations, have unveiled a new study on the way "likes" and the need for other social media praise affect our day-to-day lives. The results of the study, which surveyed 1,623 people, paint...
The resulting report, “Society’s New Addiction: Getting a ‘Like’ over Having a Life,” was co-authored with Joseph Grenny and is out today from training and consulting firmVitalSmarts....
New research shows obsession with posting photos, checking phones corresponds with lower enjoyment Provo, Utah, March 12, 2015 – A mother of a 3-year-old writes: “I disciplined my son and he threw a tantrum that I thought was so funny that I disciplined him again just...
There’s no graduation for this work -- it’s a life-long process. But with the alternative being a life-long series of experiences of unsatisfactory exchanges, stressful moments with colleagues, unproductive business proposals, and other personal and professional relationship problems, Crucial Conversationsstands as a tested and reliable...
They wrote to me in response to my recent column about a survey of more than 2,000 employees conducted by Utah-based VitalSmarts in partnership with Training Magazine. It was designed to capture people's impressions of colleagues who work remotely, and respondents said they thought those remote...
In a 2,000-person study conducted by VitalSmarts Research in 2014, 89% of respondents reported damaged relationships as a result of another person’s “electronic display of insensitivity” (EDI). One in four said that EDIs had caused a serious rift with a friend or family member....
Joseph Grenny, a co-founder of corporate training and leadership development firm VitalSmarts, conducted a study of close to 1,000 professionals and found that 97 percent of them admit to having a "career-limiting habit." These bad habits can range from unreliability to procrastination to just a...
In short, coaching works when it amplifies one’s own motivation, enhances ability, and equips people to address their context when it inhibits their ability to change. When it fails to do that, it simply doesn’t work....
Clamping down on workplace bullying could mean saving thousands of dollars a year in lost productivity. Here’s where talent managers can start....
So what can companies and managers do to overcome these problems? Maxfield wrote that VitalSmarts collected 600 examples of what the best managers of virtual teams do, and he offered six ideas based on what they learned....
I was intrigued when I saw a recent video of David Maxfield and Joseph Grenny– The “Behavioral Science Guys” — all around how we can change behavior in people who don’t want to change, and I thought the messages were dead on. See what you think: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ACi-D5DI6A...
Not only was I able to lose my stubborn extra pounds, but I’ve kept them off for more than a year through one simple strategy: I changed the way I change. I targeted six sources of influence pulled from psychology, social psychology and organizational theory, as...
Kerry Patterson, co-founder of VitalSmarts and co-author of Crucial Conversations (a company and book that are all about empowering people to make better interpersonal choices), has just published a magnificent children’s book titled It’s Never Too Late To Be Nice. When I saw the title,...
VitalSmarts was named to the Top 20 Leadership Training Companies List by Training Industry, Inc....
Provo, Utah – January 29, 2015 – VitalSmarts today announced it has been named to the Top 20 Leadership Training Companies List, by Training Industry, Inc. The listing is part of the Training Industry’s mission to continually monitor the marketplace for the best providers of...
Have you ever experienced saying something and, literally as the words were leaving your lips, you knew you would regret it?...
KIPP surveyed its principals—current and past—to see what they felt they needed in the job and brought in David Maxfield of VitalSmarts, a corporate training- and leadership-development company, as a consultant. Through its research, KIPP identified four vital behaviors it believes successful school leaders possess...
When the authors of Crucial Accountability gave an online survey to more than 900 working people in 2013, the three most common unethical workplace behaviors cited were taking credit for someone else’s work, indulging in extra long breaks and calling in sick when actually well....
According to social scientist Joseph Grenny, workplace gossip cultivates an unhealthy, company-wide social system that can be difficult stamp out....
There are also some great books on this topic “Difficult Conversations,” “Fierce Conversations,” “Crucial Confrontations” that you might consider....
Gossip is not a problem; it’s a symptom. The symptom disappears when a critical mass of leaders stop enabling it, create trust in healthy communication channels, and invest in building employees’ skills to use them....
To help a family prepare for a discussion of changing financial responsibilities, circulate the book Crucial Conversations, by Kerry Patterson....
We observe, we tell a story, and then we feel. …Since we and only we are telling the story, we can take back control of our own emotions by telling a different story. These are the claims made in Chapter 6 of Crucial Conversations...
The “ah-ha” moment came while reading the book Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success ...
You may need to explore your spouse’s feelings that are leading to her withdrawal from the discussion. A good tool for learning how to better communicate with your spouse is the bestselling book, Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High....
While many of us assume that the key to changing our habits is having enough willpower, social scientistJoseph Grenny, co-author of Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success, says our will to change is only a small factor that contributes to our ability to...
If crummy service seems constant, the common denominator may be you. [Joseph Grenny is quoted.]...
A 2014 study by Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield, co-authors of Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change, gauged how the framing of the holiday affects kids' behavior....
I highly recommend the book, Influencer: The Power to Change Anything, for those who would like to learn more about the power of and strategies related to influence....
More than 500 people gathered together Thursday during Utah Business magazine’s annual Best Companies to Work For awards program and luncheon to celebrate the ...
“Too often, organizations ask Millennials to bide their time and wait their turn,” says David Maxfield, the company’s vice president of research. “That’s not how you nurture knowledge workers, no matter their age. VitalSmarts’ research shows that organizations can help through training and by making...
Maxfield, a social scientist and author, said parents need to talk about generosity — it doesn’t just happen. “Have them be involved in being generous where they actually take action,” he said. “Brainstorm with a young child as to what their siblings or daddy or...
Video experiment shows one easy thing parents can do to help their kids be more generous during the holidays Provo, Utah – December 3, 2014 – In a newly released video, Santa’s Elf holds out two tantalizing foil-wrapped chocolate Christmas bears to Emma and Alex. One...
I recently read a posting on the Harvard Business Review Blog Network by Joseph Grenny entitled “4 Ways Leaders Can Create a Candid Culture.” I have long believed that the most successful distribution reps use leadership skills instead of the typical sales tactics to achieve...
There is another interesting factor at play in the leadership challenge of trust, and that is the ability to have crucial conversations ...
When powerful people shut you down, it may not be because they’re incapable of brooking dissent. It may be that they mistake dissent for disrespect. By contracting up front for candor, clarifying your intent before diving into the content of your concerns, and giving your...
“Sometimes, we have these opposing opinions, we see things differently in different situations, the stakes are high and important to all the parties involved and the emotions kick in, people tend to not be on their best behaviour," said Beth Wolfson, a consultant at a...
In The Salt Lake Tribune’s first annual ranking of Utah’s top workplaces, VitalSmarts ranked #6 out of 20 in the Small Companies category....
Communication may be an overused word in the world of workplace management, but not all companies do it well. David Maxfield is a Utah business consultant on the most effective ways to talk and engage with employees, especially when it comes to underperforming workers....
Meet the 50 companies in Utah that received the highest ratings from their employees. [VitalSmarts No. 6 in Small Businesses.]...
"We needed the ability to master high-stakes, often emotional, conversations. We had to know how to turn those nasty 'others' that many of us now found annoying, into helpful colleagues whom we respected and valued...
Dear Interested in Language Tools, How wonderful you have an interest in further educating yourself and your coworkers to find and use the power of words to resolve conflict. I recommend the following books: ”Confident Voices” by Beth Boynton, RN; “Crucial Conversations” by KerryPatterson, Joseph Grenny,...
The book, 'Crucial Conversations,' has real potential, like an awakening to what one should be doing — to refocus, to be aware of your dialogue and the person you're having a dialogue with. It's quite comprehensive — and helpful....
VitalSmarts was ranked No. 97 on the Utah 100 list of most successful and fastest-growing companies....
Joseph Grenny will be in town on the afternoon of Oct. 28 to talk about “Crucial Leadership During Critical Times” at the 15th Achievers & Leaders Seminar at SMX Taguig Convention Center. In his talk, Grenny will outline the “influence process” supported by extensive intuitive...
Provo, Utah – October 15, 2014 – A national study reveals that 3 in 4 parents overestimate their effectiveness in helping their children navigate school-related issues, and many rely too heavily on teachers or school administrators to fix the problems. While most parents think they are...
Joseph Grenny, co-founder of corporate training company VitalSmarts, tells HBR that leaders need to dig into their culture and understand why people aren't talking: "Silence usually means people are holding back," Grenny says....
Stressful conversation is when communication really counts, and when we will either shine or have egg on our faces ...
Getting an early handle on minor issues before they become big problems is the key, according to Joseph Grenny ...
A recent survey conducted by VitalSmarts, a corporate training solutions provider, found that workplace bullies can have better job security. According to the survey, some bullies have kept the same job for more than 30 years....
Some of this thinking is inspired by Vital Smarts, a company known for providing excellent training in managing “Crucial Conversations” — conversations that help manage conflict in the workplace. I have partnered with them, applying their methodologies with some of my Career Coaching clients, and have...
7. Crucial Accountability: Tools for Resolving Violated Expectations, Broken Commitments, and Bad Behavior (McGraw-Hill, $20). By Kerry Patterson....
Five crucial conversations that drive educational excellence. By David Maxfield...
Three out of five people say someone is rude to them on social media more than once a month. VitalSmarts conducted a survey of 2,698 people, and 78 percent of those reported an increase of rudeness in the virtual world as opposed to face to face....
Grenny will be basing the Date Night discussion on decades of research on the topic of accountability and strengthening family relationships. He will teach vital skills for holding one’s spouse and children accountable while building family relationships on a foundation of trust....
Much of what we are able to accomplish is based on the quality of conversations we have – whether they are personal conversations with family or friends, or business conversations with customers, employees, or your boss. Based on 25 years of research, Crucial Conversations presents...
Those tired of having the same argument with their spouse – or wishing their kids would follow through on chores – or looking to teach their kids some responsibility – should benefit from the seventh annual Community Date Night, supported by the United Way of Utah...
For further ideas on fostering convivial, worthwhile conversation, I recommend Crucial Conversations....
VitalSmarts has agreed to be acquired by Providence Equity Partners. The companies have not disclosed the financial terms of the transaction....
Problems that involve remote colleagues result in significantly more severe impacts to productivity, cost, quality, and time, according to a survey by VitalSmarts and Training magazine. But the situation isn’t hopeless. Here are some steps that can help....
VitalSmarts won a Stevie Award in The 2014 American Business Awards in the category of Product Development/Management Department or Team of the Year....
“Sometimes we wait to offer criticism until we’re irritated,” says Joseph Grenny, co-author of “Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High.” “That’s a bad idea, because in spite of our best efforts to mask our emotions, the way we offer criticism inevitably changes....
In the many summits that I have attended, few topics resonated with me as much as one that was featured this year — the importance of having crucial conversations. Joseph Grenny brought his expertise on this topic to the Willow Creek Stage by saying if...
"Ninety percent of responses to Grenny's survey said people shouldn't respond to texts or check social media sites in public."...
Provo, UT—Sept. 2, 2014—Those tired of having the same argument with their spouse – or wishing their kids would follow through on chores – or looking to teach their kids some responsibility – should benefit from the seventh annual Community Date Night, supported by the...
The nursing process offers pathways for nurses to communicate effectively with patients and increase staff unity....
VitalSmarts was named to the Fast 50 by Utah Business Magazine -- for the third time. (We also won in 2009 and 2010.)...
VitalSmarts was ranked No. 4875 on the 2014 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies in America -- and was named a Five-time Inc. 5000 Honoree....
Five Crucial Conversations that Drive Educational Excellence...
The Influencer 2.0 Training course teaches “a proven change model for anyone looking to alter human behavior – no matter the person’s level of formal authority, leadership, experience, or number of direct reports.”...
Are Americans really being bullied at work? Or are U.S. workers just too sensitive to criticism? Several readers have sent these questions my way during the last month since I wrote a couple of columns about the prevalence of bullying at work....
David Maxfield joined me for half an hour on the topic of change management for companies and individuals. I was sitting on my phone, taking notes in Evernote at a table at Roxberry, drinking a green smoothie to lose weight as I listened to David....
Would we be more apt to speak up? The award-winning team of authors — Patterson, Grenny, Maxfield, McMillan and Switzler — have done just that in Crucial Accountability. They teach us how to deal with the problem at hand without harming the relationship — and, possibly...
VitalSmarts found that 95% of employees have trouble voicing differences of opinion, which results in a loss of roughly $1,500 per eight-hour workday....
Grenny offers these tips to help managers lead through layoffs and emerge with a strong, trusting team of reps: 1. Downsize with kindness. 2. Be transparent. 3. Build confidence in the future....
SALT LAKE CITY – July 29, 2014 – Today, VitalSmarts opens its seventh annual REACH learning experience – at Salt Lake City’s Grand America Hotel – with bestselling author Joseph Grenny as the keynote speaker. REACH is a three-day event designed for those who work...
“There’s this collective powerlessness, which is remarkable,” says Grenny. “Social control is the most effective way to stamp out bullying, but that’s not happening.”...
A recent study by VitalSmarts, a leadership consultancy founded by David Maxwell, author of the excellent book Crucial Conversations, polled nearly 3,000 people on the topic of workplace bullying. ...
Dos and Don'ts of Comforting Others: 1. Offer your heart, not your brain. 2. Don't offer judgments. 3. Don't give them an assignment, but take thoughtful initiative....
In a recent study that Joseph Grenny and I conducted for our organization, VitalSmarts, 96 percent of survey respondents said they have experienced bullying at work. It's not the kind of bullying one might expect, though....
VitalSmarts found that 19 percent of respondents decreased their offline contact with a person because of something that individual said on social media. [Joseph Grenny told The Christian Post last year that the findings showed there is a need "for manners to catch up with technology."]...
July 17, 2014 – Provo, UT – VitalSmarts, an innovator in corporate training and leadership development, today released a new edition of its award-winning leadership course, Influencer Training®. The revised edition includes updated videos, a new training platform, and greater flexibility in its participant response...
96% of people have experienced bullying at the office, says David Maxfield, VP of research at VitalSmarts and coauthor of a recent study on workplace bullying. ...
One study, released in June by Provo, Utah-based VitalSmarts, found that 96 percent of 2,283 individuals had experienced some form of workplace bullying. What's more, the survey found 86 percent of bullies have been at it for more than one year and 54 percent have...
In our email interview, Maxfield wrote that the best way to prevent bullying at work is to build a strong culture of accountability on four levels: Personal. Peer. Supervisory. Systemic....
When leaders want to create an open culture where people are willing to speak up and challenge one another, they often start by listening. This is a good instinct. But listening with your ears will only take you so far. You also need to demonstrate...
Social media has potential for improving organizational performance and driving business, but new research from VitalSmarts, a corporate training solutions provider, found that many organizations persist in discouraging its use in the workplace. Rooting out organizations' remaining distrust of social media starts with training....
Suffice to say, most companies are not adept with dealing with bullies in the workplace. TheVitalSmarts report found that a mere 51 percent of respondents worked for a place that had a policy to keep bullying at bay, 7 percent know of an individual who used...
Bad behavior is more often due to a lack of skills than to bad motives. When we learn to recognize our tendency to commit the Fundamental Attribution Error and ask, “Why would a reasonable, rational and decent person do this?” our influence efforts improve markedly....
Provo, Utah – July 2, 2014 – VitalSmarts today announced it has agreed to be acquired by Providence Equity Partners, marking the beginning of a new phase of growth in the company’s history. The investment from Providence will accelerate VitalSmarts’ corporate growth initiatives and further...
Bullying isn't only a problem for children at school. According to a new survey from VitalSmarts, it's wreaking havoc in our offices, too ...
A new survey says bullies have job security, usually because people are afraid to confront them. Here's how to shut down the bad behavior....
Grenny and his co-author, David Maxfield, suggest several techniques for dealing with bullies, including speaking up right away, sticking to detailed facts when talking about bullying, finding out what kind of legitimate concern the bully has, warning the bully of the consequences of their behavior, and holding...
David Maxfield: "If we could break down this fear that letting people’s outside life ‘intrude’ into their work life is always bad, I think we’d discover a huge breakthrough in productivity.”...
"Changing your posture doesn’t just “psych you up” — it juices you up. It isn’t just others who are influenced by our nonverbal communications, we are too. Body language affects not only how others see us, but it also appears to change how we see...
“We taught them how to think about influence problems with six of these sources of influence, and how to shift human behavior,” said Grenny, who led a morning seminar on business leadership at the JW Marriott in Grand Rapids on Wednesday, June 25, and will...
Provo, Utah – June 25, 2014 – Brian regularly emailed his direct reports at all hours of the night. When one didn’t immediately answer, he would hurl a volley of emailed threats and personal insults. Team members felt afraid, vulnerable, and helpless. Many quit. The...
According to David Maxfield, coauthor of the books Crucial Conversations and Influencer, 96% of American employees experience bullying in the workplace, and the nature of that bullying is changing. “In the 70’s, it was fisticuffs,” he recalls. “I don’t think that’s happening at Facebook.” ...
Best-selling author David Maxfield explains why it’s important to hold one another accountable at work and how we can do so....
"Start every change project with a clear and compelling statement of the goal you're trying to achieve," says Joseph Grenny, co-chairman and co-founder of VitalSmarts, an innovator in corporate training and leadership development. Grenny is one of 14 featured speakers for Willow Creek Association's 2014...
"Your best hope of influencing [your son] for the better is to keep your motives right, maintain reasonable boundaries and focus on helping him learn to recognize consequences in his own life."...
With money and communication issues cited as some of the main reasons for divorce, it’s important a new couple develop healthy habits early on, says Joseph Grenny, author of Crucial Conversations, the New York Times bestselling book....
It’s not only at work where we’re bothered by inappropriate cell phone use, or Electronic Displays of Insensitivity (EDI). According to a survey by VitalSmarts, 89% of participants said that insensitive use of technology had negatively affected their personal relationships....
The role of the boss should not be to settle problems or constantly monitor your team, it should be to create a team culture where peers address concerns immediately, directly and respectfully with each other. Yes, this takes time up front. But you'll see problems...
The Summit is a two-day event that seeks to transform leaders around the world with an injection of vision, skill development and inspiration from a Christian perspective. ...
Joseph Grenny writes that social media can boost productivity, improve decisions, and drive sales, but the danger is that managers will be deluded into thinking it can substitute for the day-to-day investment in face-to-face connections....
David Maxfield talks about the results of VitalSmarts' recent study "Digital Divisiveness."...
According to a 2013 VitalSmarts survey of about 2,600 people, 35 percent of respondents reported blocking, unsubscribing or "un-friending" someone due to an argument held on social media....
Joseph Grenny suggests having an honest discussion in which you let the other person know you want a productive working relationship that doesn’t skirt sensitive issues like age differences. (See PDF to May newsletter_Silence 7 common complaints) ...
A new report led by David Maxfield claims social media has untapped potential in the workplace....
Albert Bandura and the "Influencer" strategy, developed by Joseph Grenny, inspired Fundación Paraguaya to help poor families ask two questions: Is it worth it? Can I do it?...
Six in 10 respondents to a recent survey said that use of social media in the office improved work relationships, and about a third said that they used platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to further work-related projects....
Social media can have “powerful positive impacts” in professional settings, but most organisations either discourage or disregard its use in the workplace, a new study has revealed....
April 17, 2014—Provo, UT—VitalSmarts, an innovator in corporate training and leadership development, today announced its award-winning Crucial Conversations™ classroom course is now available online via live, synchronous learning. The company launched this first course using its new VitalSmarts Virtual Classroom™ technology, a highly collaborative learning platform...
In Crucial Conversations, the authors share the results of their 25-year study of successful communicators. Not surprisingly, the key skill that differentiated them from their peers was their ability to deal with these very crucial (and oft-dreaded) conversations....
"I find myself turning again and again to Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. It’s my instinct to avoid having difficult conversations and I have to work against my fight-or-flight tendencies....
Earlier this month we told you about new research on "Electronic Displays of Insensitivity" -- basically ignoring people in favor of your smartphone. Today we are lucky enough to have one of the men behind this study in studio today -- New York Times best...
PROVO, UT – March 26, 2014 – VitalSmarts, a leader in corporate training and leadership development, was named the 2014 Business of the Year by ISA – The Association of Learning Providers – for the second time, during its annual business retreat this week in...
VitalSmarts was named the 2014 Business of the Year by ISA – The Association of Learning Providers – for the second time, during its annual business retreat in Scottsdale, Arizona. ...
In Joseph Grenny’s Digital Divisiveness, 87 percent of respondents reported that electronic displays of insensitivity (EDIs) — i.e., the intrusive or inappropriate use of technology — is worse today than it was just a year ago....
PROVO – March 20, 2014 – VitalSmarts, a leader in corporate training and leadership development, announced today it has acquired Vital Skills International of Michigan. As part of the acquisition, VitalSmarts will maintain the presence of a Michigan-based office to provide its U.S. customers in...
Nearly 9 out of 10 people say that at least once a week, their friends or family stop paying attention to them in favor of something happening on their digital devices. And 1 in 4 say EDIs have caused a serious rift with a friend...
A new study [by VitalSmarts] suggests ignoring someone to check a digital device may actually damage your relationship. When did technology start trumping respect?...
Provo, Utah, March 19, 2014 – Sandie sent her husband an email during dinner asking if they could talk. Even though he was sitting across the table, it was the only way she could get his attention as he buried his nose in his smartphone....
David Maxfield contributes an article on how to work with coworkers of different generations based on VitalSmarts multigenerational research....
David Maxfield discusses the advantages of social media in the workplace and how to mitigate issues with coworkers....
Joseph Grenny contributes advice on how to speak up and hold others accountable to maintain and ethical workplace....
VitalSmarts releases new research that shows more than 1 in 3 people waste five or more hours each week (12 percent of their work week), due to chronic, unaddressed conflict between colleagues from different generations....
PROVO – February 5, 2014 – Tami has a coworker who behaves poorly as a result of what she and her colleagues perceive as “senioritis.” After 35 years with the organization, the coworker comes in late, leaves early, takes lengthy personal calls, is resistant to...
VitalSmarts made the watch list for TrainingIndustry.com’s 2014 Top 20 Leadership Training Companies. ...
Joseph Grenny shares research and experience that proves getting people to speak up about ethical violations is not about rewarding whistle-blowers, but creating an environment where employees feel able to hold people accountable....
PROVO – January 17, 2014 – VitalSmarts, a leader in corporate training and leadership development, announced today its list of Premier Associates who are recognized for achieving top revenue and sales targets in their respective regional markets in 2013. That list includes three of the...
Vitalsmarts found that the failure to stick to New Year's resolutions carries a price tag of more than $1,000 for seven in 10 people. ...
VitalSmarts experts found that the way you frame gift giving at Christmas can affect children’s generosity. ...
Crucial Conversations is listed among the 13 most popular business books of 2013 alongside Jim Collins' Good to Great, and Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In....
December 11, 2013—Provo, UT—Edith L. has always struggled with weight gain, but the one thing that has historically kept her weight in check is exercise. In an attempt to gain motivation to work on her exercise goal, she joined a state-of-the-art gym. Two years later,...
Joseph Grenny shares five tips for discussing holiday finances with a squandering spouse. ...
December 9, 2013—Provo, UT—VitalSmarts, a leader in corporate training and leadership development, today announced it has trained one million people in 36 countries in its four award-winning training products. Based on three decades of original research and 50 years of the best social science thinking, VitalSmarts’...
Joseph Grenny shares insight as to why Millennials are better with their money. ...
Kerry Patterson discusses how to respectfully and effectively confront a slacking coworker. ...
Paladin Associates, a procurement services provider, and VitalSmarts, an innovator in corporate training and leadership development, are pleased to announce their partnership aimed at addressing procurement’s numerous and complex change challenges....
Joseph Grenny shares tips for what it takes to really create a healthy habit and how long before it clicks....
VitalSmarts found that 63% frequently observe minor and major infractions, yet they confront only half of the unethical behavior they see....
VitalSmarts found that 63% frequently observe minor and major infractions, yet they confront only half of the unethical behavior they see. ...
Joseph Grenny shares how to turn conflicting parenting styles into complementary ones....
Crucial Conversations is ranked No. 2 on the Washington Post Paperback Nonfiction Bestsellers List....
David Maxfield shares the importance of personal, social and structural influences to facilitate hand hygiene behavior....
VitalSmarts' "Silence Kills" study found that less than 10 percent of medical staff confront their colleagues about their concerns....
An online survey of 926 people administered by the New York Times best-selling authors of Crucial Accountability found that while 63 percent of respondents regularly witness both minor and major ethical infractions, employees confront only half of the unethical behavior they witness at work....
VitalSmarts was ranked No. 97 on the Utah 100 list of most successful and fastest-growing companies....
Joseph Grenny gives a preview of the skills he’ll share at the upcoming community date night to benefit the United Way....
Joseph Grenny shares how employees can effectively handle mistakes at work....
Joseph Grenny shares how to achieve greater success and build stronger relationships through applying the behavior change principles in Change Anything....
The Silence Kills and Silent Treatment studies from VitalSmarts show the lack of effective communication between clinical teams can have deadly consequences....
Al Switzler shares how Spectrum Health achieved unprecedented success in hand hygiene compliance through Influencer....
Joseph Grenny shares four tips to stop playground and cyber bullying....
VitalSmarts was ranked No. 4109 on the 2013 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies in America and No. 79 for Utah companies....
Joseph Grenny shares tips for successfully navigating difficult conversations at work....
Ron McMillan elaborates on the five toughest work conversations shared in the CNNMoney article....
TaskUs says Crucial Conversations solved their communication struggles....
VitalSmarts is listed as #4109 on the 2013 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies in America....
Joseph Grenny will speak at the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit alongside Colin Powell, Patrick Lencioni and Brene Brown....
Al Switzler shares how to increase training transference by incorporating strategies within the Six Sources of Influence....
Rebecca Saxton said introducing Crucial Conversations Training to the AORN-Greater Kansas City Chapter was time and money well spent to create healthy work environments....
Joseph Grenny shares what to do when caught between fighting friends....
Joseph Grenny shares tips for communicating both candidly and respectfully on social media....
Joseph Grenny shares tips for effectively raising ethical issues to your boss....
VitalSmarts, an innovator in corporate training and leadership development, today released Crucial Accountability™—the update to the Company’s popular Crucial Confrontations Training. The two-day classroom course teaches a step-by-step process for holding others accountable to violated expectations in order to improve performance....
Based on more than 30 years of research, CRUCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY (McGraw-Hill Professional; June 2013; Original paperback and eBook formats: $19) provides readers with the essential tools they need to resolve controversial and complex issues dealing with repeated disappointments and performance gaps. This is the revised...
New research from the authors of the New York Times best-seller Crucial Accountability shows that three in four employees quickly attribute co-workers’ bad behavior to lack of motivation while only one in 10 consider ability deficits. As a result, they avoid holding problem colleagues accountable,...
Joseph Grenny shares his research on social media conversations and provides tips for communicating effectively online....
MassMutual Financial uses Crucial Conversations Training to increase employees’ capacity to foster open and direct communication....
Joseph Grenny shares how to harness the Six Sources of Influence™ to make lasting changes in your life....
Kerry Patterson shares the impact social influences have on our personal finances....
Patty Loeffler lost 100 pounds by following the principles in Influencer and Change Anything....
Research from VitalSmarts shows slacking co-workers cause their hard-working colleagues to put in extra time at the office....
Joseph Grenny shares strategies for ending sexual abuse in the military....
In every business interaction—from weekly conference calls to high-stakes corporate negotiations—one major element separates successful change efforts from the ones that fail: Influence. In INFLUENCER: The New Science of Leading Change (McGraw-Hill; Paperback and eBook formats: $19; May 14, 2013), Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, David...
Most leaders put a great deal of time into crafting strategy, selecting winning products and engaging with analysts and shareholders, but according to a new study, only six percent are successful in influencing the behavior of the people who will have to execute on the...
Joseph Grenny shares how leaders can increase their effectiveness by learning how to influence behavior change....
Kerry Patterson shares how to graciously accept a gift you don't like. (This article was picked up by 31 publications.)...
Joseph Grenny shares his research on slacking co-workers and provides solutions for holding slackers accountable....
Steve Rappoport shares VitalSmarts’ research on social media conversations....
Erin Burnett shares VitalSmarts’ research on social media conversations and displays the VitalSmarts website....
Social networks are becoming increasingly hostile, with 78 percent of users reporting rising incivility online and 2 in 5 blocking, unsubscribing or “unfriending” someone over an argument on social media, according to new research from the authors of the New York Times best-seller Crucial Conversations....
Joseph Grenny shares his research on social media conversations and tips for communicating effectively online....
Joseph Grenny shares his research on social media conversations and tips for how manners can catch up with technology....
Joseph Grenny shares his research on slacking co-workers and provides solutions for holding slackers accountable. ...
Kerry Patterson shares advice in response to a reader’s question on how to deal with slacking co-workers. ...
Joseph Grenny shares his research on slacking co-workers and provides solutions for holding slackers accountable. ...
A VitalSmarts study shows that valuable employees work up to an additional six hours per week because of slacking colleagues....
VitalSmarts, an innovator in corporate training and organizational performance, today released the Impact Cloud—a free, customizable, online tool that measures the impact of an organization’s training investment on key behavioral and business outcomes....
Kerry Patterson shares his research which shows 93 percent of employees have co-workers who don't pull their weight, but only 1 in 10 confronts those lackluster colleagues. ...
Slacking co-workers cause a quarter of their hard-working colleagues to put in four to six more hours of work each week, according to new research from the New York Times best-selling authors of Crucial Confrontations....
Al Switzler received the 2013 “Spirit of ISA” Broomfield Award for his contributions to advance ISA’s vision and strategic direction....
VitalSmarts received two second-place bronze awards from the 34th Annual Telly Awards for outstanding videos....
Joseph Grenny shares ways people can increase their level of happiness. ...
Crucial Conversations is ranked No. 2 on the paperback nonfiction bestseller list. ...
Joseph Grenny shares his research and tips on how to speak up to your doctor....
Joseph Grenny shares his research which shows that couples who argue effectively are 10 times more likely to be happy. ...
VitalSmarts made the watch list for TrainingIndustry.com's 2013 Top 20 Leadership Training Companies....
VitalSmarts, a leader in corporate training and organizational performance, announced today its list of Premier Associates who are recognized for achieving top revenue and sales targets in their respective markets in 2012. That list includes seven of the Company’s 18 licensed resellers located across the...
Joseph Grenny shares the six sources of influence trainers must engage in order to drive profound and rapid change in behavior. ...
VitalSmarts, an innovator in corporate training and organizational performance, today released the Crucial Accountability™ Companion Course. The one-day training builds on the skills learned in Crucial Conversations® Training and introduces a powerful new set of skills for resolving violated expectations, broken commitments and bad behavior....
Crucial Conversations was ranked No. 10 on the Publishers Weekly Business Bestsellers List....
Joseph Grenny shares why performance reviews are largely ineffective and how managers can truly help their employees improve. ...
According to new research from the co-authors of the New York Times best-seller Change Anything, 43 percent of employees experienced a déjà vu performance review in 2012—negative performance feedback that surfaces year after year....
Joseph Grenny shares how to overcome the career-limiting habits that keep you from achieving your career resolutions. ...
Joseph Grenny shares why willpower is insufficient to change behavior. ...
Joseph Grenny shares tips for providing feedback candidly and respectfully. ...
VitalSmarts, an innovator in corporate training and organizational performance, recently welcomed two leaders to its team, Stephen Wunderli and Andrew Maxfield....
Joseph Grenny says political diversity discussions can be healthy to hold. ...
Joseph Grenny shares how leaders can increase their capacity for influencing change. ...
Joseph Grenny shares tips for how to discuss holiday finances with your spouse. ...
Joseph Grenny shares how to reverse career-limiting habits to achieve greater success at work. ...
VitalSmarts received a Golden Spike Finalist Award in the Marketing Products/Services category from the Public Relations Society of America, Utah Valley Chapter for the Crucial Conversations 4 launch campaign....
Joseph Grenny shares tips for overcoming the sensitivities that undermine our performance at work. (This article was picked up by 5 publications.) ...
Joseph Grenny shares the four critical competencies of a high-performance cultural operating system. ...
Joseph Grenny shares why willpower alone is insufficient to change behavior. ...
This Snapshot features VitalSmarts’ research which shows who we avoid talking politics with the most. ...
Joseph Grenny shares his research on the costs of conflict avoidance in the workplace. ...
Kerry Patterson says a good political rant rarely leads to catharsis....
Crucial Conversations is No. 3 on The Denver Post bestseller list for paperback nonfiction books for the week of October 21....
Joseph Grenny shares what to do if your political discussion turns heated despite your best efforts to remain in dialogue. (This article ran in the Sunday print edition of The New York Times and was also picked up by the Philadelphia Inquirer)....
A survey from VitalSmarts shows 86 percent of Americans avoid political discussions. (This article was picked up by three additional publications.)...
VitalSmarts was ranked No. 100 on the Utah 100 list of most successful and fastest growing companies....
Kerry Patterson shares how to use the Influencer Model to achieve lasting change in an organization....
Romney and Obama aren’t the only ones taking sides in intense debates this election season. According to a new poll from VitalSmarts and the authors of the New York Times best-seller Crucial Conversations, 62 percent of Americans have found themselves in heated debates and the...
Kerry Patterson shares tips for how to say “no.”...
Crucial Conversations is listed as a great resource for providing a framework for discussions on salary negotiation....
David Maxfield shares tips for overcoming career-limiting habits to achieve greater potential at work....
David Maxfield shares how to apply Influencer strategies to motivate employees and increase engagement....
Crucial Conversations is No. 1 on the Washington Post bestseller list for nonfiction paperbacks for the week of August 26....
VitalSmarts was ranked No. 3311 on the 2012 Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in America....
The Silent Treatment study shows that a culture of poor communication in hospitals contributes to medical errors....
Ron McMillan shares tips for determining when to make a career move....
VitalSmarts is No. 3311 on the 2012 Inc. 5000 list. The Company has been ranked by Inc. as one of America's fastest-growing companies for eight consecutive years....
Kerry Patterson shares tips for handling financial differences in marriage....
VitalSmarts was awarded a certificate of merit from the Chief Learning Officer Learning in Practice Awards for the Change Anything Training course....
A survey from VitalSmarts reveals that 97 percent of employees have a career-limiting habit that keeps them from achieving their potential at work....
VitalSmarts released the fourth edition of Crucial Conversations Training, which teaches high-leverage skills to improve dialogue, relationships, and bottom-line organizational results....
Change Anything shows how to reach a higher level of achievement and satisfaction in life....
Joseph Grenny offers advice for taking well-deserved vacation time and for setting appropriate boundaries while away....
Joseph Grenny shares how the most influential leaders handle three important crucial conversations....
VitalSmarts was ranked No. 29 in the UV50 list of fastest-growing companies....
Kim was distressed after she and her fiancée received a "conflicted couple" flag following a premarital questionnaire. She knew from previous failed relationships that she struggled to bring up sensitive issues, but would her tendency to avoid a nasty debate really threaten the success of...
A survey from VitalSmarts reveals that 97 percent of employees have a career-limiting habit....
Joseph Grenny shares how to hold effective crucial conversations in this age of digital communication....
Kerry Patterson shares tips for negotiating vacation time....
VitalSmarts, an innovator in corporate training and organizational performance, today released the fourth edition of Crucial Conversations® Training, one of the training industry's leading courses in teaching high-leverage skills to improve dialogue, relationships and bottom-line organizational results.
...Ron McMillan shares how to use Change Anything principles to reach both professional and personal goals....
Joseph Grenny demonstrates the difference Crucial Conversations skills make in being a great leader....
Crucial Conversations Training taught Paychex leaders how to achieve spirited dialogue at all levels in the organization, make the highest-quality decisions, and then act on decisions with unity and commitment....
Joseph Grenny shares how to change a company’s culture using the four critical competencies of a high performance cultural operating system....
Four weeks after seventeen periOperative nurses participated in Crucial Conversations Training, they reported the ability to address disruptive physician behavior 71 percent of the time....
Joseph Grenny shares how to effectively speak up when facing moral dilemmas....
The Silent Treatment Study website was awarded the prestigious Silver Communicator Award in the Website category of the 2012 Communicator Awards....
David Maxfield explains why being helpful is an important leadership skill....
Joseph Grenny shares the importance of positive peer pressure to meet career goals....
A new study from New York Times best-selling authors Joseph Grenny and Loral Langemeier shows that over the past five years, three out of five people have failed to meet their financial goals; despite this, 76 percent are doing little to change their spending and...
According to a new study by Joseph Grenny, 76 percent of U.S. adults are doing little to change their financial behavior....
Crucial Conversations was No. 8 on the nonfiction paperback bestseller list for April 1....
VitalSmarts received one first-place silver award and one second-place bronze award from the 33rd Annual Telly Awards for outstanding videos....
Joseph Grenny shares how to candidly and respectfully discuss politics at work....
Joseph Grenny outlines how the attention given to and glorification of school shooters amplifies the violence....
Crucial Conversations was No. 7 on the list of USA TODAY Money bestsellers for March 4....
Joseph Grenny and Chase McMillan share how managers can help employees overcome their career-limiting habits....
The second edition of Crucial Conversations was No. 3 on the list of bestselling business books for February 28....
Joseph Grenny shares his research which reveals why crucial conversations succeed or fail....
Kerry Patterson shares how leaders can increase employee engagement....
Crucial Conversations was No. 1 on the list of softcover business bestsellers for February 12....
David Maxfield shares the importance of positive social influence in altering career-limiting habits. (This article was picked up by 8 additional publications.)...
VitalSmarts, an innovator in corporate training and organizational performance, today released Change Anything Training™, its newest training course designed for organizations that are tired of yielding little-to-no change in employee behavior despite substantial investments in performance management.
...Kerry Patterson shares how to approach co-workers about highly sensitive issues....
Kerry Patterson shares his career-limiting habits research....
The authors of Crucial Conversations provide negotiation tips for high-stakes situations....
Joseph Grenny shares that willpower has little to do with behavior change....
Joseph Grenny says the way human behavior responds to five key challenges will determine our future. ...
Al Switzler shares tips for holding a successful crucial conversation....
Change Anything was listed as No. 8 on the top 10 business books of 2011 list. ...
Joseph Grenny provides tips for improving your performance and catapulting your career....
Kerry Patterson provides tips for office party etiquette....
Joseph Grenny shares VitalSmarts' new research and workplace negotiation tips....
VitalSmarts, an innovator in corporate training and organizational performance, promoted Emily Hoffman to vice president of development and delivery. In her new role, Emily will lead a brand new division of VitalSmarts—the Development and Delivery department—an integration of the former Production Services and Training/Consulting departments.
...Change Anything shows that willpower alone is not enough to change behavior....
Joseph Grenny shares tips for holding crucial conversations with unruly relatives this holiday season....
Kerry Patterson shares tips for working with a difficult boss. (This article was picked up by four additional publications.)...
Joseph Grenny's research shows keeping silent on the job comes with considerable costs....
VitalSmarts won a Golden Spike Award in the Marketing Products/Services category from the Public Relations Society of America, Utah Valley Chapter for the Silent Treatment launch campaign....
VitalSmarts was ranked No. 13 in the large consulting group category of best leadership development firms in North America....
New research reveals the most difficult issue for women in the workplace to discuss and successfully resolve is negotiating limits on their workload—it's also one of the main issues that cause 1 in 5 women to leave their job.
...This excerpt comes from the first chapter of the second edition of Crucial Conversations and focuses on VitalSmarts' new research from the past 10 years....
David Maxfield discusses why performance reviews alone are insufficient to create lasting behavior change....
Joseph Grenny shares tips for speaking up to your boss candidly and respectfully....
VitalSmarts was ranked No. 94 on the Utah 100 list of most successful and fastest growing companies....
Joseph Grenny shares findings from his new study on life-changing crucial conversations....
Kerry Patterson provides tips for holding a crucial conversation to get past the receptionist....
According to a study from the four-time New York Times best-selling authors of Crucial Conversations, the person people most struggle to hold difficult and life-changing conversations with is their boss. Spouses and co-workers are the second and third most difficult audiences when discussing high-stakes issues.
...Kerry Patterson says employees whose contributions merit a higher salary can effectively negotiate one....
When a high-stakes issue calls for a tough conversation, most people fumble, change the subject or avoid it altogether—with devastating consequences. Workplaces become dysfunctional, marriages fall apart and careers stall. Whether we need to solve a spousal argument, request a raise or get the department...
Change Anything shows that changing unhealthy or ineffective habits doesn't hinge on willpower....
Joseph Grenny shares how bosses can effectively handle bad behavior issues with star employees....
VitalSmarts was ranked No. 3425 on the 2011 Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in America....
Kerry Patterson shares how busy employees can strengthen relationships with co-workers during normal work hours. (This article was picked up by 17 additional publications.)...
Crucial Conversations is No. 5 on The Denver Post's list of paperback bestsellers....
Joseph Grenny says employees can make themselves more marketable by improving their interpersonal skills....
Joseph Grenny shares how the principles of Change Anything unlock one's potential for success in changing their behavior....
VitalSmarts received a platinum and gold award for their excellence in moving pixels....
Kerry Patterson shares tips for how to create a great working relationship with your boss. (This article also ran on MSN.)...
Joseph Grenny shares how to alter your life to create fulfillment—instead of hoping the world will change to suit your needs....
Crucial Conversations is No. 6 on The Washington Post's list of nonfiction paperback bestsellers....
David Maxfield shares research from The Silent Treatment study which shows that a culture of poor communication undermines the effectiveness of safety tools and contributes to medical errors....
According to Kerry Patterson, when crucial conversations are avoided or handled poorly, teams and organizations stall or even self-destruct....
The Economist: Crucial Conversations is No. 7 on The Economist's list of worldwide business bestsellers....
Joseph Grenny shares how employees can overcome their Career-Limiting Habits and experience greater success at work....
Joseph Grenny shares how people over 40 can increase their success in making changes and achieving goals....
Kerry Patterson shares tips for when and how to hold crucial conversations with your boss....
Joseph Grenny shares how employees can speak up to mitigate the consequences of their mistakes and restore their reputation at work....
Joseph Grenny shares how the principles of Change Anything unlock one's potential for success in changing their behavior....
If you are contemplating personal change, Change Anything may help you overcome the unseen influences that might otherwise defeat you....
According to new research from the New York Times best-selling authors of Change Anything, 97 percent of employees report they have some Career-Limiting Habit (CLH) that keeps them from achieving their potential at work. These habits cost employees raises and promotions they might have...
Joseph Grenny shares an influence strategy for de-radicalizing prospective young terrorists....
Change Anything shows that we can gain control over our behavior and excel in our careers through harnessing the six sources that influence behavior....
Change Anything just might become an enduring classic in how to turn problem behaviors into productivity and happiness....
Change Anything is a roadmap for individuals to gain mastery over their weight, careers, exercise habits, interpersonal relationships and more....
Joseph Grenny shares how employees can use the principles in Change Anything to help them change their behavior and get a raise or promotion....
Joseph Grenny shares how remarkable change agents used the principles in Change Anything to turn hardened criminals into responsible fathers....
The authors of Change Anything, all affiliated with the consulting firm VitalSmarts, present research and insights about how to change bad personal habits....
Is willpower overrated? Most people blame lack of willpower for their inability to change a bad habit. But it turns out willpower has surprisingly little to do with whether or not people succeed at changing their bad habits finds CHANGE ANYTHING: THE NEW SCIENCE OF...
David Maxfield shares how the Change Anything approach empowers employees to take control of their own career path by teaching them the knowledge and tools to change their behavior and improve their performance....
VitalSmarts received one first-place silver award and one second-place bronze award from the 32nd Annual Telly Awards for outstanding videos....
Change Anything works great on a personal level, and could also help trainers to assist employees looking to turn over a new leaf for better performance and a more successful work-life....
Research from Change Anything reveals how employees can make themselves invaluable by practicing the three vital behaviors of top performers....
Health care professionals make calculated decisions daily to not alert their colleagues when a safety tool signals potential harm to a patient, according to a new study of 6,500 nurses and nurse managers released today during a national briefing in Philadelphia....
David Maxfield shares findings from "The Silent Treatment" study, which shows how communication failures in the hospital can lead to medical errors....
David Maxfield shares findings from "The Silent Treatment" study and says teams need to create environments of accountability....
Brittney Maxfield shares how VitalSmarts developed a successful marketing campaign through creating an Old Spice parody featuring their book Crucial Conversations....
Kerry Patterson shares how employees can respectfully and effectively confront their boss before acting out in ways that could cost them their job. ...
VitalSmarts was ranked No. 8 in the UV50 list of top revenue companies....
Kerry Patterson shares how employees can effectively ask for extras by presenting a cost-benefit analysis....
Kerry Patterson provides tips for respectfully and effectively confronting office lovebirds about their public display of affection....
Change Anything provides tips for employees to create a multifaceted change plan to excel in their careers....
Kerry Patterson explains how HR professionals can effectively deal with angry employees' concerns....
VitalSmarts made the watch list for TrainingIndustry.com's 2011 Top 20 Leadership Training Companies....
VitalSmarts, an innovator in corporate training and organizational performance, promoted three leaders, Mary McChesney, John Minert, and Emily Hoffman to senior management positions....
Kerry Patterson explains how learning leaders can help change their employees' behavior....
Joseph Grenny shares how people can get what they want by proffering a simple invitation....
Kerry Patterson shares how employees can successfully ask for help without appearing incompetent....
Change Anything is heralded as a "smart, sensible work" containing a "highly detailed holistic plan, illustrated by encouraging case studies, for making systemic changes that approach problems from every angle and promote active change."...
Al Switzler discusses VitalSmarts' research which debunks the myth that jerks are most likely to get promoted....
According to a poll by VitalSmarts, only 15% of U.S. employees feel comfortable dealing with "tough" conversations....
Ron McMillan shares tips for how to excel in the workplace through holding crucial confrontations....