Crucial Conversation Analysis

Crucial Conversations also address uncomfortable conversations that can occur between an administrator and teachers, or other community stakeholders. These types of conversations encourage people to speak up and let their opinions be heard. An administrator’s goal with Crucial Conversations is to engage in dialogue with fellow school or district employees. Richard Pound, who wrote the article, “Breaking the Culture of Silence and Crucial Conversations,” says that the emphasis of dialogue results in good and informed decision-making. It also prevents employees from feeling “de-motivated, disengaged, and disinterested” (Pound 2). Too many people avoid engaging in the conversation process until their emotions, which have been bottled up because

However, this type of conversation requires the administrator to be very in tune with themselves and their responses. It encourages us to look at the situation from the other person’s perspective. Then, it wants us to “be open to learning, to really hearing the other person” (Styer). This is supposed to be enough to make us feel prepared to have a “Fierce Conversation.” We should constantly try to look at things from the other’s point of view. Following the conversation, it is expected that the subordinate and I have created a deeper, more respectful layer to our school-based relationship

If felt like the author was encouraging us to have a pep talk with ourselves, instead of engaging in deeper levels of understanding of the other person and ourselves. I like that the other strategies offered specific strategies to create an atmosphere conducive to solving a problem and coming out of that (potentially difficult exchange) with our working relationship intact. I did not feel that was the case with Fierce Conversations. This type of conversation depended too much on the emotions of the administrator and not enough on solving the problem at hand in the most productive, respectful way possible. The only way I could see the benefit of Fierce Conversation would be if an extremely rude, or sarcastic administrator was engaged in more than one inflammatory situation in his or her school building. Then, that administrator would benefit from the self-reflection required for Fierce