Press Room

How Learning Leaders Can Create Accountable Cultures to Drive High Performance

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...

80% of Workers See Faults in Their Boss, Yet Most Say Nothing

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....

Your To-Do List May Be Causing You Stress—Here’s What to Do

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....

Use this trick to take control of your boss

A new study by leadership training company VitalSmarts showed what we already knew: discussions on performance at work can be a one-way street....

The workplace’s open secret: flawed managers

More than three-quarters of employees said their managers have "glaring flaws," but few managers realize their shortcomings, a new survey from VitalSmarts revealed....

To-Do List Got You Stressed?

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....

5 Tips to Protect Your Productivity and Your Performance

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....

Tacking Your To-Do List: 5 Ways to Combat Stress

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...

Want to Improve Your Style Under Stress? New Research Shows You How

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...

4 Tips for Navigating Tough Work Conversations

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....

Just say ‘no’: More than half of workers in the US stressed out by too much work

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....

How to get confident and speak up at work

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....

A Leader’s Guide to Effective Dialogue Under Pressure

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....

Is VR the answer to better sexual harassment training?

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....

Study: 60% of people can’t finish everything on their to-do list (but there’s hope)

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....

This Has More Than Half of America’s Workers Stressed Out

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....

Rethinking The Rules Of Employee Engagement: Why Courage, Candor And Change Are Better

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.  ...

4 Things Managers Can Do to Increase Productivity and Improve Performance

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...

Workers with overstuffed to-do lists feel overwhelmed, not organized, study shows

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....

Practice Makes Proficient: Developing Your Competencies

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High (McGraw-Hill Education, 2011) by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler...

4 Things to Do Before a Tough Conversation

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?...

A Leader’s Guide to Dialogue: Holding Crucial Conversations Under Pressure

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...

ARE YOU A ‘HOTHEADED MANAGER’?

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....

5 THINGS GREAT LEADERS KNOW (THAT YOU CAN LEARN TODAY)

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...

Why Your Meetings Stink—and What to Do About It LEADERSHIP When Managers Break Down Under Pressure, So Do Their Teams

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....

10 Holiday Activities You Can Do By Yourself If You’re Not Spending Time With Family

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 morning routine to combat holiday stress

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...

We bring holiday stress upon ourselves, survey finds

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....

When Under Stress, Managers Reveal Their Dark Sides

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....

Spoiler alert: A manager’s ability to handle stress is a key factor in team performance

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....

How you deal with stress can ruin your employees’ jobs

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....

These are 4 of the biggest holiday stressors — and ways to cope

One in four people say they have taken on more than they can handle during the holidays, according to a recent survey by VitalSmarts....

Why Your Ability to Achieve Dialogue Will Make or Break Your Results

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...

SURVEY: The Top 5 Sources Of Holiday Stress

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...

The Top 5 Sources Of Holiday Stress, According To A New Survey

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....

6 Sex Conversations You Really Need to Have for a Successful Relationship

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. ...

1 in 3 Managers Can’t Handle the Heat at Work, Data Shows

Unfortunately, one out of every three managers is ill equipped to handle a high-pressure situation, according to data from leadership training company VitalSmarts....

How To Unlock The Potential Of Your People

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....

Study: 1 in 3 managers can’t deal with high-stress situations

One in three managers is unable to handle high-pressure situations calmly, according to new research from VitalSmarts....

Giving Feedback: What We’ve Learned About Building Strong Design and Development Teams

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...

Making telecommuters feel included

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....

How to Avoid The 3 Mistakes L&D Leaders Make When Addressing Workplace Harassment

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....

Three Ways To Hone Your Communication To Build Stronger Relationships

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....

A study proves fighting with your partner is actually good for your relationship

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....

How Do You Get People to Talk?

“Safety is about intent; not content. Learn to monitor and manage safety and you can talk to anyone about anything.” – Emily Gregory, VitalSmarts...

How to 10x Your Post-Training Results

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...

From High Potential to High Performances: 5 Hard Skills for Increased Focus and Productivity

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...

How to Pick & Stick to Career Goals

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....

Remote Workers

A Study of 1,100 Employees Found That Remote Workers Feel Shunned and Left Out by Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield...

Crucial conversations and how they affect business

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,...

How to Be the Best Boss Ever, According to Career Experts

“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...

Mind the Gap: 3 Skills to Create an Accountability Culture

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...

4 Books To Help You Survive A Dysfunctional Workplace

3. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Resolving Broken Promises, Violated Expectations, and Bad Behavior by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler...

The 4 Conversations Overwhelmed Working Parents Need to Have

The best solution, according to New York Times bestselling author Joseph Grenny and journalist Brittney Maxfield, is communication....

The Cost of Conflict Avoidance

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...

Start Your Day With Heart

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...

A conversation free from technological distractions

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...

Here’s how to work with the office slacker

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...

These four small mind-set shifts will make you more productive

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...

Have a Concern? The Clock is Ticking

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...

How to Get Someone to Put Away Their Phone and Actually Listen

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...

This is why you should speak up about work problems

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...

Brett Kavanaugh, Reese Witherspoon, Russell Simmons: Broadsheet July 11th

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...

Most People Are Supportive of #MeToo. But Will Workplaces Actually Change?

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...

21 Books Highly Recommended by Successful Executives

"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...

You think Bitcoin is volatile, look at the history of global currencies.

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...

C-Suite Advice to Women in the Workplace: Don’t Hedge Your Message

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...

Most employers haven’t taken new action in light of #MeToo

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...

Kylie Minogue just taught us all a valuable lesson about knowing our own worth

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...

How to Get Your Boss to Listen To 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...

Good Work Habits Stick Only When Leaders Step up to the Plate and Help

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....

Why Does Power Abuse Persist?

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...

4 Signs It’s Time to Let That High-Potential Employee Go

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....

On the Same Page: How to avoid the meeting after the meeting

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....

How to Get People to Accept a Tough Decision

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...

How to Get Your Boss to Actually Listen to 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...

What to Consider Before Hiring a Friend

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....

Rethinking Remote Relationships

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.’...

The Truth Behind “I Don’t have Time”: Take control of your inputs and take control of your life

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...

‘Queer Eye’ Culture Expert Karamo Brown Shares His 8 Essential Items

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...

The 3 ’Mini-Habits’ of Productive People

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...

Do Your Employees Believe That You Value Innovation? Probably Not

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,...

Employee Potential Does Not Always Equal Workplace Performance

"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...

4 Steps to Starting a Conversation about Changing Your Culture

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...

This Is How Happy Couples Argue

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...

Employees & Companies Win Big When Hiring Remote Employees

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 couple that fights together, stays together: study

"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 …...

Why Couples Who Fight Are Happier Than Those Who Don’t

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....

Couples who argue together, stay together, research finds

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....

Workplace Bullying Prevention & Resolution Strategies

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%....

Couples Who Argue Stay Together, Study Says — But Here’s The Catch

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...

COUPLES WHO ARGUE ARE 10 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO STAY TOGETHER, SAYS MOST RELATABLE STUDY EVER

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...

7 Ways Arguing Benefits Your Relationship, According To Experts

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,”...

Remote Employees Are Angry: 3 Keys To Re-Engage And Boost Performance

A recent article in Harvard Business Review, by Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield, discussed their study of remote employees and their findings were powerful....

20 Life-Changing Books You Must Add to Your List for 2017

Crucial Conversations is ranked No. 9 on the list of 20 life-changing books you must read in 2017....

5 Ways to Be More Productive in 2018

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...

This Is What Remote Workers Need Most From Their Bosses

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:...

7 Skills You Need to Manage Remote Employees

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...

3 ways to salvage a meeting that’s gone sour after a big conflict

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....

How to Save a Meeting That’s Gotten Tense

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...

5 things you should do now to be more productive in 2018

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...

Supporting Remote Workers

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....

4 Simple Ways Highest-Performing Employees Increase Productivity and Decrease Stress

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...

The Pitfalls of the Phrase “That’s Not My Job!”

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...

7 critical skills for managing remote workers

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...

Feeling Undervalued as a Remote Worker? Here’s What to Do About It

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...

Yes, You Can Make Office Politics Less Toxic

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....

Remote Leaders? Here’s How Your Company Can Retain 99 Percent of Them.

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....

Survey: Remote workers are paranoid and feel left out

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...

People who work from home suspect their in-office coworkers are doing this

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....

A Study of 1,100 Employees Found That Remote Workers Feel Shunned and Left Out

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...

They’re Talking Behind My Back: Remote Workers Feel Unsupported

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....

5 Tips for a Successful Performance Review

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...

12 Phrases You Should Definitely Avoid When Giving Bad News

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...

The 5 Skills of Highly Valuable and Highly Productive Employees

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....

This Is Why No One Understands What You’re Saying

“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...

How to talk about tragedies like the Las Vegas shooting at work

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....

Finding the Link Between Peace and Productivity

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...

Great Storytelling Connects Employees to Their Work

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...

Do This Ritual At The End Of Each Week To Become More Productive

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...

5 Productivity Practices to Help You Stress Less and Do More

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...

5 Habits of the Most Valuable and Productive Employees

David Maxfield shares 5 habits that can be adopted by anyone to improve individual and team performance as well as reduce stress....

5 Habits of the Most Valuable and Productive Employees

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...

How to handle high-stakes conversations

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....

Is It All About The App?

Justin Hale says your personal productivity turns on behaviors, not tools....

The 5 Best Ways to Handle Difficult Workplace Conversations in the Office

A VitalSmarts Certified Trainer shares five steps for handling some of the most tricky and crucial conversations in the workplace....

The Top 5 Career-Limiting Habits You’ve Built (And 6 Ways to Break Them)

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: ...

6 Surefire Signs Your Workplace Is Toxic

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."...

There Are 3 Skills That Will Get You Promoted and 1 That Won’t, According to a Study

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...

Problems at Work? 5 Questions Every Employee Should Ask Their Boss

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...

You can be a 10 in your boss’s book, be more productive and have less stress

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...

5 personality traits to develop if you want to be more successful

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....

5 productivity habits of high-performing employees that you can start today

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....

Here’s why the highest-performing employees are also the least stressed

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....

The Traits of Top Performers That Allow Them to Do More and Be Less Stressed

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....

When to Solve Your Team’s Problems, and When to Let Them Sort It Out

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....

How to confront your boss about the gender pay gap, by a journalist who it did it live on the air

Joseph Grenny advises people to discuss issues in private, and to not overplay the risks of speaking up. ...

Managing in Tech: Exude Cool, Thrive Under Pressure and Dance with Your Stars

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...

Do You Have A Culture Of Silos? Here’s How To Break Them Down

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...

Gender Bias At Work — Why Men Call Forceful Women ‘Hysterical’ And Try To Silence Them

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."...

What to Do When You Inherit a Team That Isn’t Working Hard Enough

Joseph Grenny give leaders advice on motivating and unmotivated workforce....

A new ‘warning’ for families: You may be trading a full life for Facebook Likes

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...

4 Ways To Foster Happiness In The Workplace

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...

How to Give an Employee Feedback About Their Appearance

Joseph Grenny shares advice on giving employee feedback about sensitive topics--like one's appearance. Don't understate or sugarcoat your message....

Why You Should Walk the Line Between Company Culture and Your Individual Leadership Style

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...

Playing favorites and workplace gossip hurt quality of care, providers charge

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...

Don’t let these 5 toxic workplace dramas hurt patient safety

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....

How to React to Biased Comments at Work

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....

Debunking The 4 Myths of Online Learning

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....

What to Do About Mediocrity on Your Team

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...

Unconscious Bias and the Skills for Speaking Up

David Maxfield and Judith Honesty share the results of their latest study on workplace discrimination and impact of unconscious bias....

Study on Bias Reveals Several Types of Discrimination

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."...

When You Use the Word Victim…

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...

How to Raise Sensitive Issues During a Virtual Meeting

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...

This Is How You Handle Negative Feedback, According To Career Experts

Joseph Grenny provides advice on how to accept criticism and feedback....

Five Common Habits That Can Kill Your Career

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....

4 bad habits that can destroy your career

"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....

How To Quit Your Job In A Classy Way

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...

A 3-Step Plan for Turning Weaknesses into Strengths

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....

The do’s and don’ts of talking politics at work

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...

When Employees Are Afraid to Speak Up, Organizations Suffer

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...

The rise of the feedback culture

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....

Over 43% of Spouses Hide Holiday Spending From Partners

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."...

How to Bridge the Leadership Perception Divide

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...

How a Culture of Silence Eats Away at Your Company

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....

7 Things That Will Destroy Your Career

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....

Five Ways to Prevent A Holiday Spending Nightmare

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...

What You Can Do If You Have a Gossiping Boss

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....

Holiday secret: 8 of 10 couples have an overspender

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....

Don’t Apologise Just To Be Forgiven

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....

How to keep it cordial when talking politics with friends

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...

Facebook Gets Ugly: Politics Brings Out the Troll In Us

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....

5 Secrets To Mastering Conflict

VitalSmarts' research shows that those who consistently speak up aren’t necessarily more courageous; they’re simply more accurate....

What a Real Apology Requires

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."...

Leaders Need Different Skills to Thrive in Tech

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....

Why Teamwork Matters at Every Level

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....

How to Defuse Trump-Style “Locker Room” Talk at the Office

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...

Four Leadership Rules for Success in Utah’s Silicon Slopes

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....

Should You Talk About Politics at Work?

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....

How Employees and Managers See Things Differently — and How to Fix It

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....

How to talk politics with those you love — without tearing your hair or their eyes out

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....

Want a top-performing team? Make sure speaking up is encouraged

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.”...

The Delicate Art of Gracefully Recovering From a Verbal Blunder

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....

This is How Your Employees Really See Your Company Culture

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....

Are You Disconnected From Your Employees? Then Your Culture Is in Trouble

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....

How To Give And Accept Criticism In The Workplace

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....

How to Make Feedback Feel Normal

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...

Address workplace conflict or it could cost you

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....

VIRTUAL VS. CLASSROOM TRAINING

David Maxfield writes about how to design virtual training that performs equally as well as traditional classroom training....

4 Steps to Starting a Conversation about Changing Your Culture

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....

When women speak up, they get punished

Joseph Grenny and Beth Wolfson share research that says gender bias is a reality, but recognizing it can spark change....

Do Your Employees Believe That You Value Innovation? Probably Not

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...

Corporate Culture Chasm: Employees and Management Don’t Agree

A new study from VitalSmarts finds a large chasm between how employers and employees view corporate culture....

What did you say?

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....

Almost All Managers Have at Least One Career-Limiting Habit

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....

Could Rules for Managing Tech Workers Translate to Your Industry?

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....

Don’t let stress and a crazy pace kill your culture

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...

How to Talk About the Orlando Shootings at Work

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,...

How to Deal with the Irrational Parts of a Negotiation

Joseph Grenny shares a few best practices for addressing the human dynamics that frequently drive negotiations....

How To Give Feedback At Work That Doesn’t Jeopardize Your Career

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....

How Democrats Married to Republicans Survive Election Seasons

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...

Avoiding the Controversy in Controversial Conversations about Politics

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...

81 percent of wary Americans now swear off political discussions over 2016 election ‘at all costs’

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...

Tips to Keep Employee Silence from Driving Away Customers

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...

7 Ways to Stop a Meeting from Dragging On

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....

5 Career-Crushing Things Employees Say

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...

5 career-killing conversations to avoid at work

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....

Avoiding ‘pink slips of the tongue’ at work

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,”...

Can You Recover from a Major Gaffe at Work?

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...

Curious Things That Will Kill Your Career

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....

WorkZone: Avoiding “pink slips of the tongue” at work

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,”...

What to Do If a Conversation Is Turning Loud and Aggressive

Joseph Grenny shares five skills to halt, and sometimes reverse, a conversation meltdown....

How to Disagree with Someone More Powerful than You

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...

New Study: How to Kill Your Career in One Sentence

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....

5 ways to minimize distractions at work

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....

Two actors, a man and a woman, performed an exact same script for the 4517 test subjects

This Norwegian publication shares VitalSmarts research that shows gender bias exists for women in business....

Why Keeping Quiet May Sabotage Your Relationship

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....

Tiffany Gee Lewis: The most important words you’ll ever say

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...

3 Ways to Improve the Learning Environment

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....

How arguing can be good for your marriage

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....

Do You Avoid Arguing With the One You Love? Why Keeping Quiet May Sabatoge Your Relationship

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....

Trick Yourself into Breaking a Bad Habit

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...

5 things (besides willpower) that’ll help you successfully make life changes

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...

Here’s How Much Your New Year’s Resolution Will Cost You

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....

New Year’s Resolutions: Why We Do What We Do

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...

6 Workplace Realities Women Will Face In 2040

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....

5 Ways to Minimize Office Distractions

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....

See Something, Say Something

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....

Silence Costs You in Customer Service

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...

What your child’s teacher needs to know

A VitalSmarts study reveals that many parents fail to communicate major changes in the home to their child’s teacher...

Balancing act: ‘Crisis of silence’ leads to bad customer service, survey says

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....

Can You Count on Your Employees to Tell You When Your Customer Services Stinks

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....

Four Sneaky Ways to Trick Your Enemies Into Becoming Allies

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....

What Businesses Can Learn From B2G Content Marketing Strategies

Need inspiration? Take a look at VitalSmarts ...

The 8 Most Annoying Things People Do With Their Phones

"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 wins Gold in Learning in Practice Awards

VitalSmarts win first place (Gold) in the Excellence in Community Service category of the 2015 Learning in Practice Awards, presented by Chief Learning Officer....

5 Ways To Get Better At Grown-Up Love

(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....

18 things you should do immediately to best prepare for the next five years

Learn how to deal with interpersonal conflicts. Read Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High.  ...

Here’s how you can get the most of out this fall’s parent-teacher conferences

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" ...

Your kid’s teacher wants to know about your home life

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....

What your child’s teacher wants to know

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...

This Year, No “Dear Teacher, We Are Divorced” Declaration

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!...

Study: Parents want to hear more from teachers, teachers want to hear more from parents

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...

Education Matters: Here’s what’s wrong with parent-teacher communications

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 and Teachers Should Talk More for Students’ Sake, Survey Finds

"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....

Tell Teachers About Problems at Home — or Impede Your Child’s Success

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...

Parents and teachers should talk about the life-events that impact students

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...

Gender Bias Is Real: Women’s Perceived Competency Drops Significantly When Judged As Being Forceful

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 ...

Can technology drive meaningful cultural change in healthcare?

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.”...

Open communication is good for home as well as office

"...

New studies show power of ‘unconscious bias’ in workplace

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....

The Six Ways Your Financial Behavior Is Manipulated

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...

Studies Show That Female Executives Still Face an Uphill Battle

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....

Women get penalized for being assertive at work—unless they do this one thing

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%.  ...

Getting Angry At Work Can Literally Cost You, Says Study — Especially If You’re A Woman

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 ...

The Best Books for Salespeople

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High Again, this book isn't sales–specific, but it's absolutely sales–essential ...

Getting Mad at Work Can Cost Women $15,000 in Annual Pay

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....

Anger in the office costs women more than men

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....

Frank, open conversation improves atmosphere at work

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 ...

Purge the Scourge of Office Jerks

Fed-up colleagues should confront bullies with examples of their bad behavior culled from several incidents, says David Maxfield ...

How to Resolve Workplace Conflicts

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."...

Six Ways to Increase Your Influence

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....

Book It — Summer Reading From SHRM

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.”...

A Leader’s Guide to Influence: How to Change Bad Behavior and Get Results

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...

5 Books to Help You Deal with Work Drama

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....

5 common mistakes that will keep you from winning an argument

[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....

Creating Measurable Change in a Dying Culture

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....

Acquire career-enhancing habits

Joseph Grenny, best selling author, social scientist and co-founder of VitalSmarts, outlines strategies you can take to foster positive change....

How being unprofessional increases employee engagement

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....

How to reduce workplace bullying using proactive measures

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...

Are You Present When Viewing Real Estate?

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...

Transforming Communication and Safety Culture in Intrapartum Care

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...

4 Strategies to Implement and Spread PBL in Your School

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...

The Current: Ditch social media to discover “The Joy of Missing Out”

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...

Keys to help you develop your leadership through social influence -By Joseph Grenny

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...

Errors of Comedy: Office humor has its place, but managers need to intervene when it crosses the line

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...

Why we no longer talk with each other

“‘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.”...

Column: Social media often makes us anti-social

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...

Six Frightening Facts You Need to Know About Health Care

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."...

Date night — the secret to a happy and long-lasting marriage

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...

How Wanting ‘Likes’ on Social Media Is Killing Our Capacity for Actual Joy (Infographic)

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....

Obsessing over the perfect social media post is ruining your life, study says

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...

Social media addiction: when preserving the moment gets in the way of the actual moment

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....

Crucial Conversations Review – Strategies That Work When the Stakes are High

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...

Balancing act: Readers offer tips for building trust with remote workers

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...

How to Stop Workplace Bullying -By David Maxfield

Clamping down on workplace bullying could mean saving thousands of dollars a year in lost productivity. Here’s where talent managers can start....

Survey: Office workers don’t trust colleagues who work remotely

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....

Sources of influence deconstruct mystery of change

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...

It’s Never Too Late To Be Nice

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,...

Leading with the truth: how to handle crucial conversations

Have you ever experienced saying something and, literally as the words were leaving your lips, you knew you would regret it?...

Getting rid of company gossip

According to social scientist Joseph Grenny, workplace gossip cultivates an unhealthy, company-wide social system that can be difficult stamp out....

Career Coach: Dealing with a disruption

There are also some great books on this topic ­ “Difficult Conversations,” “Fierce Conversations,” “Crucial Confrontations” ­ that you might consider....

Top 10 Simple New Years Resolutions

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...

People Who Keep Their Resolutions Do These 5 Things

The “ah-ha” moment came while reading the book Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success ...

10 great steps to talk about money without fighting

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....

How Parents Could Be Sending The Wrong Message With Elf On The Shelf

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....

VitalSmarts one of ‘Best Companies to Work For’ in Utah

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 ...

Lessons Learned: Small Business Takeaways from 2014

“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...

Does Santa make our kids selfish?

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...

Creating an Open Sales Environment

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...

Businesses need to focus on ‘crucial conversations’ for efficiency

“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...

VitalSmarts One of Top Workplaces in Utah –Salt Lake Tribune

Meet the 50 companies in Utah that received the highest ratings from their employees. [VitalSmarts No. 6 in Small Businesses.]...

6 Keys To Working With Others As Your Startup Grows -By Kerry Patterson

"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...

Reader interview: ‘Crucial Conversations’ a great tool for important discussions

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....

It’s influence, not authority that makes a great leader

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...

How to Get Your Quiet Employees Talking

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....

Don’t Just Make Money, Build Relationships

Stressful conversation is when communication really counts, and when we will either shine or have egg on our faces ...

Neutralizing the Workplace Bully

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....

In crucial workplace conversations, choose your words wisely

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...

[Crucial Accountability is #7 on Bestselling Paperback list: Nonfiction/General]

7. Crucial Accountability: Tools for Resolving Violated Expectations, Broken Commitments, and Bad Behavior (McGraw-Hill, $20). By Kerry Patterson....

Speak Up or Burn Out

Five crucial conversations that drive educational excellence. By David Maxfield...

Rude Technology: Where have all the manners gone?

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....

Community Date Night to feature NYT best-selling Provo author

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....

The Top 10 Books to Build Your Business Acumen

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...

Community Date Night

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...

Eleven Ways To Stay Sought-After By Connecting Better In Conversation

For further ideas on fostering convivial, worthwhile conversation, I recommend Crucial Conversations....

VitalSmarts Acquired by Providence Equity Partners

VitalSmarts has agreed to be acquired by Providence Equity Partners. The companies have not disclosed the financial terms of the transaction....

Making Long-distance Relationships Work -By David Maxfield

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....

How to set expectations with your employees

“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....

Don Follis: Crucial conversations are vital for a meaningful life

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...

5 reasons to put down the smartphone

"Ninety percent of responses to Grenny's survey said people shouldn't respond to texts or check social media sites in public."...

Critical Conversations in Nursing

The nursing process offers pathways for nurses to communicate effectively with patients and increase staff unity....

Speak Up or Burn Out -By David Maxfield

Five Crucial Conversations that Drive Educational Excellence...

VitalSmarts Updates Influencer 2.0 Training

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.”...

Balancing act: Readers dispute prevalence of workplace bullying

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....

6 Keys To Change Management: Why Willpower Alone Isn’t Enough

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....

Business Bookshelf: Learning how to address bad behaviour

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...

How To Use Conflict To Your Advantage At Work

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....

How to Be a Leader during Layoffs

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....

Dealing with Workplace Bullies

“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.”...

The Real-World Implications Of Workplace And Cyber Bullying

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. ...

The worst (and best) things to say to someone who is grieving -By Joseph Grenny

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....

Rampant Bullying Found Across Workplaces -By David Maxfield

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....

Facebook Users Are More Likely to Divorce, Study Finds

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."]...

5 Signs You’re Dealing With A Workplace Bully

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. ...

Taking Aim at Workplace Bullies

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...

Fight Workplace Bullying with Better Communication Skills

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....

4 Ways Leaders Can Create a Candid Culture -By Joseph Grenny

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...

The Social Media Skills Gap

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....

Workplace Bullying on the Rise: How Dangerous Is It?

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...

More teaching, less threatening can lead to greater influence -By Joseph Grenny

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....

Balancing act: Survey: Bullying is wreaking havoc in the workplace

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 ...

Does the Office Bully Have More Job Security?

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....

The ‘silent epidemic’: workplace bullying is on the rise, research shows

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...

Next time you feel nervous, assume this position -By Joseph Grenny

"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...

Who Me? How to Build Accountability in the Workplace

Best-selling author David Maxfield explains why it’s important to hold one another accountable at work and how we can do so....

Joseph Grenny to share insights on business performance at 20104 Summit

"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...

Five tips for parents of electronics addicts -By Joseph Grenny

"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."...

About To Say “I Do”? Make Sure You’re Money Compatible

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....

Smartphones are causing rifts in relationships (TV)

David Maxfield talks about the results of VitalSmarts' recent study "Digital Divisiveness."...

4 Challenges of Being a Young Boss

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) ...

The Case for Embracing Social Media at Work

A new report led by David Maxfield claims social media has untapped potential in the workplace....

Putting Poverty Alleviation in the Hands of the Impoverished

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?...

Can Social Media At Work Be A Good Thing?

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....

Infographic: 48% of companies don’t encourage social media networking

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....

Dog-Eared Books: What’s on Your Bedside Table?

"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....

David Maxfield discusses “Electronic Displays of Insensitivity” (TV)

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...

‘Electronic Displays of Insensitivity’ on the Rise

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....

Checking your cell phone will kill your relationship

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...

What to Answer: Your Phone or Your Wife?

A new study [by VitalSmarts] suggests ignoring someone to check a digital device may actually damage your relationship. When did technology start trumping respect?...

4 Ways to Overcome Age-Related Tension in the Office

David Maxfield contributes an article on how to work with coworkers of different generations based on VitalSmarts multigenerational research....

Social Media Helps Coworkers Bond

David Maxfield discusses the advantages of social media in the workplace and how to mitigate issues with coworkers....

Why Accountability is Key to Maintaining an Ethical Workplace

Joseph Grenny contributes advice on how to speak up and hold others accountable to maintain and ethical workplace....

Study: The War Of Generations Results In Lost Productivity

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....

Research: We Should Speak Up About Ethical Violations More Often

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....

New Year’s Resolutions: Why You Shouldn’t Bother

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. ...

When Santa ‘Frames’ Christmas, Children Respond

VitalSmarts experts found that the way you frame gift giving at Christmas can affect children’s generosity. ...

The 13 Most Popular Business Books of 2013

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....

When Your Partner’s Wallet Wanders

Joseph Grenny shares five tips for discussing holiday finances with a squandering spouse. ...

Millennials More Responsible with Credit Than Gen X-ers

Joseph Grenny shares insight as to why Millennials are better with their money. ...

The Do’s and Don’ts of Dealing With a Slacking Co-Worker

Kerry Patterson discusses how to respectfully and effectively confront a slacking coworker. ...

How to Form a Healthy Habit That’ll Actually Last

Joseph Grenny shares tips for what it takes to really create a healthy habit and how long before it clicks....

How to Blow The Whistle Without Blowing Your Career

VitalSmarts found that 63% frequently observe minor and major infractions, yet they confront only half of the unethical behavior they see....

How to Blow the Whistle Without Blowing Your Career

VitalSmarts found that 63% frequently observe minor and major infractions, yet they confront only half of the unethical behavior they see. ...

Aligning Different Parenting Styles

Joseph Grenny shares how to turn conflicting parenting styles into complementary ones....

Elizabeth George and Nobel Laureate Alice Munro at Number 1 on Fiction Hardback, Paperback Lists

Crucial Conversations is ranked No. 2 on the Washington Post Paperback Nonfiction Bestsellers List....

Why You Need to Ask Doctors if They’ve Washed Their Hands

David Maxfield shares the importance of personal, social and structural influences to facilitate hand hygiene behavior....

Six Frightening Facts You Need to Know About Healthcare

VitalSmarts' "Silence Kills" study found that less than 10 percent of medical staff confront their colleagues about their concerns....

Change Your Bad Habits

Joseph Grenny gives a preview of the skills he’ll share at the upcoming community date night to benefit the United Way....

Workplace Blame: Don’t Be a Snitch or a Pushover

Joseph Grenny shares how employees can effectively handle mistakes at work....

Want Better Relationships, More Money, Greater Happiness? Change Your Behavior

Joseph Grenny shares how to achieve greater success and build stronger relationships through applying the behavior change principles in Change Anything....

Silence Kills: Can Technology Drive Meaningful Cultural Change in Healthcare?

The Silence Kills and Silent Treatment studies from VitalSmarts show the lack of effective communication between clinical teams can have deadly consequences....

An Influencer Can Change People’s Behaviour in the Pursuit of High Performance

Al Switzler shares how Spectrum Health achieved unprecedented success in hand hygiene compliance through Influencer....

How to Stop a Bully–Before Anyone Gets Hurt

Joseph Grenny shares four tips to stop playground and cyber bullying....

5 Toughest Work Conversations

Joseph Grenny shares tips for successfully navigating difficult conversations at work....

Business 360: Quest Means Business

Ron McMillan elaborates on the five toughest work conversations shared in the CNNMoney article....

How We Successfully Built an Awesome Company Culture Abroad

TaskUs says Crucial Conversations solved their communication struggles....

2013 Inc. 5000 List

VitalSmarts is listed as #4109 on the 2013 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies in America....

Tranel Financial Group to Be Host Site for Global Leadership Summit

Joseph Grenny will speak at the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit alongside Colin Powell, Patrick Lencioni and Brene Brown....

4 Key Strategies for Increasing Transference

Al Switzler shares how to increase training transference by incorporating strategies within the Six Sources of Influence....

Bosses, Bullying & Burnout in Nursing

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....

What Do Your Two Battling Friends Have in Common? You.

Joseph Grenny shares what to do when caught between fighting friends....

New York Times Bestseller on the Perils of Social Media

Joseph Grenny shares tips for communicating both candidly and respectfully on social media....

How to Whistleblow Like Edward Snowden Without Blowing Your Career

Joseph Grenny shares tips for effectively raising ethical issues to your boss....

Fighting Fair: How to Tackle Crucial Conversations on Facebook & Twitter

Joseph Grenny shares his research on social media conversations and provides tips for communicating effectively online....

MassMutual Fosters Open Communication

MassMutual Financial uses Crucial Conversations Training to increase employees’ capacity to foster open and direct communication....

Interview: Joseph Grenny

Joseph Grenny shares how to harness the Six Sources of Influence™ to make lasting changes in your life....

Are Americans Getting Smarter with their Personal Finances?