Clear Leadership

This book thoroughly analyzes common interpersonal communication traps, particularly within the leadership framework. Its main message is that human psychology naturally causes our conversations to be strewn with misunderstandings. Indeed, we have trouble drawing the distinction between our objective observations and subjective interpretations. We consequently tend to take these interpretations for certitudes, causing errors in our reasoning, and making it difficult for us to understand that others may interpret the same situation or the same words from a different perspective.
We can avoid this omnipresent trap by systematically making intensive efforts to communicate clearly. To this end, Gervase Bushe analyzes four key competencies for clear communication, namely, being lucid, explicit, curious and positive. He suggests many practical and simple exercises to hone these skills. Although it is relatively easy to buy into the principles described in this book, putting them into practice is another story. Only through systematic training can we acquire the necessary reflexes.
Filled with little stories to which everyone will relate, this book reads almost like a novel. You will never see your day-to-day existence and interpersonal interactions in the same way again.