How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work: Seven Languages for Transformation - Hardcover

"A genuinely 21st century book! Kegan and Lahey create a dynamic alternative to mere coasting on the momentum of the information age. Why do we know so much and yet so little lasting change actually occurs-in ourselves and in our organizations? This book doesn't just answer the question. It shows us a way out of the problem." (Michael Murphy, founder, Esalen Institute and author of The Future of the Body) "Lucid, accessible, and immensely satisfying, this provocative book is plainly the product of a very deep understanding of why people behave the way they do. . . . an approach to change that is at once systematic and humane. . . . breakthrough thinking. . . compelling and inspiring." (Tony Schwartz, contribution editor, Fast Company, and author, What Really Matters) "A minor masterpiece. . . .In this simple brilliant book, Kegan and Lahey not only deal with the how of transformation. . . . they deal with the most central issue of all: how and why people (and organizations) are committed to not changing. . . . a must-read for all individuals and organizations that truly wish to grow into their own greater possibilities." (Ken Wilber, author, Integral Psychology) "By providing extraordinary practical wisdom, this book enables us to move from organizational frustration to collective achievement. An invaluable gem." (Ronald Heifetz, author, Leadership Without Easy Answers) "Maps both a personal transformative experience for the reader and the social arrangements that support this significant mode of adult learning. A unique and invaluable resource for adult educators, leaders in organizations, and every adult learner." (Jack Mezirow, emeritus professor of adult and continuing education, Teachers College, Columbia University) "Leaders trying to 'drive change' miss the deeper forces that might naturally enable it, forces which Kegan and Lahey reveal powerfully and practically." (Peter Senge, author, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization) "This is a how-to-do-it book for reflective practitioners. Step by step, it teaches educators and leaders how to build highly collaborative, creative, and caring communities." (Mary Field Belenky, coauthor, Women's Ways of Knowing) "New, practical, and effective strategies for today's core leadership challenge: how to transform behavior in ourselves and others--without the debilitating crisis that is usually needed-by seeing and transcending the forces that hold us back." (Michael Jung, director, McKinsey & Company)

This work is an innovative approach to business communication written by two Harvard-based authors. Revealed in this book, is a workplace community where certain ways of talking are encouraged and others made apparently impossible. By utilizing the seven new workplace "languages" discussed in this book to reveal the underlying feelings and motivation in one-to-one and group discussions at work, leaders can concentrate individual and social energy to transform communication and culture in the workplace. Using a mix of organizational analysis, worksheets and sample dialogues, the authors focus on providing new forms of language and thinking which ensure broad and long-lasting organizational transformation.