"Phil Harkins has it exactly right. To be a leader is to communicate powerfully--as he does in this thoughtful book." - Robert B. Reich, Professor of Social and Economic Policy Brandeis University.

Powerful Conversations breed a powerful organization. POWERFUL CONVERSATIONS is packed with goal-oriented strategies, tools, and real-life examples from great leaders. Use its deliberate, directed techniques to achieve exceptional levels of performance, create and maintain valuable relationships, and forward the goals of both yourself and your organization with every word you speak. Mastering the three stages of a Powerful Conversation--from shared feelings and beliefs, to an exchange of wants and needs, closing with action steps and mutual commitments--will help you exercise more control over your interactions, and greatly enhance both your leadership skills and your success.

Look inside to discover:
How to plan, conduct, and measure Powerful Conversations;
Using the Tower of Power as a tool in coaching;
The four Cs of Trust--clarity, caring, consistency, and commitment
Five strategies to satisfy--and keep--your best employees
Tools to turn the company grapevine from a poisonous plant into a pathway for learning
Determining your leadership competencies through the Leadership Assessment Instrument
Targeting Passionate Champions to drive an Agenda for Change.

Leaders across the country are praising POWERFUL CONVERSATIONS:

"Phil Harkins has it exactly right. To be a leader is to communicate powerfully--as he does in this thoughtful book." - Robert B. Reich, Professor of Social and Economic Policy, Brandeis University.

"Powerful Conversations have made a real difference in the effectiveness of the Operations Senior Leadership Team. We are delivering unprecedented results thanks to the clearer communication and improved working relationships." - Larry Gundrum, Senior Vice President, Kraft Foods.

"In my business, Powerful Conversations are leading to believability and a growing sense of achievability by our employees that they can drive a massive agenda for change." - Linda Coughlin, Managing Director, Scudder Kemper Investments, Inc.

"In a fast forward world, candor and clarity are prerequisites for success. POWERFUL CONVERSATIONS is a must read book for leading into the 21st century." - Steve Ozonian, Chairman and CEO, Prudential Real Estate and Relocations Solutions.

"A powerful guide, both savvy and wise, to emotional intelligence in action. Phil Harkins has given us an essential handbook for leaders at any level." - Daniel Goleman, Author, Working with Emotional Intelligence.

Foreword

"When Cicero spoke, men marveled.
When Caesar spoke, men marched."

How great leaders achieve their status and affect change has always been of immense interest to me. When I was president at the University of Cincinnati, at the end of a busy week, I would frequently reflect on how I spent my time and what I could do to be more effective. To me, the impact and quality of leadership ultimately boiled down to one question: "Did I make a difference?" In reading this book, it occurred to me that, although a complex field of study, leadership is quite simple -- it is the way great leaders communicate that sets them apart.

I thought of the above quote when I read Phil Harkins' message. While I did not necessarily intend to make men march, I wonder in retrospect how many of my own conversations could have been more powerful, and what could have been achieved as a result. Powerful Conversations -- defined, analyzed, and broken down by Phil Harkins in the pages that follow -- are the critical tool for great leaders because they lead to action and accomplishment, commitment and understanding. Like the words of Caesar, conversations that are properly aimed get things done.

These realizations played to my own experience and study of leaders. I have found, as has Phil Harkins, that great leaders speak in ways that express authenticity. They do so with a candor and clarity that allows those around them to feel their presence -- to know more about not only what they want, but who they are and what they stand for. Great leaders are very clear about what they are aiming for, but they also make sure that they satisfy your agenda first. Ultimately, they achieve what they want by drawing out the greatness of those around them. They do this through the power of their conversations.

This book stands out as more than a business book. It describes how and why the best leaders connect deeply with those around them. I found it a delightful surprise, an enjoyable experience, and a journey through stories about how leaders make a difference. It was a book that made me think about the quality of every conversation I personally engage in and how I might communicate with greater power. The stories here are wonderful and sometimes even heartwarming. They will resonate with you as they have with me.

What is most impressive to me about this book, however, is that it is prescriptive. It defines in clear language the action steps you need to take to be a great communicator. Moreover, the practical tools, processes, and methods make it doable. There are parts of the book that are like a manual; I recommend you keep it close by as a reference to help you think through the important conversations you need to face. In planning meetings, speeches, and important one-on-one conversations, take the time to review the tools and action steps to ensure that your conversations are powerful. I believe that leaders who want to be "High Impact" must discipline themselves to communicate with clarity, candor, and constancy. To do so requires this level of study, self-introspection, and focus.

Leadership is hard work. Thomas Paine, in describing the tremendous endurance needed to be a soldier during the Revolution, contrasted those who stuck it out through the toughest conditions with the "fair-weather soldiers" as a great metaphor for courage. The message in this book is that High-Impact Leaders are best in adversity.

Foreword. Introduction. Acknowledgements. Part I: The Discipline of Powerful Conversations. Part II: Powerful Conversations in Practice. Appendix. Index.

Phil Harkins, Ph.D. (Concord, MA) is president and CEO of Linkage, Inc., an organizational development company founded in 1988. He is co-chairman of the Global Institute for Leadership Development, and has held leadership positions in industry and academia.