Conversational Capacity: The Secret to Building Successful Teams That Perform When the Pressure Is on

by Craig Weber

OPEN, BALANCED DIALOGUE--THE KEY TO PEAK TEAM PERFORMANCEIn a world of rapid-fire change, it's more important than ever to build teams that work well when the pressure is on--and quality communication can mean the difference between success and failure.

"Conversational Capacity" provides the communication tools you need to ensure that your team remains on track even when dealing with its most troublesome issues, that it responds to tough challenges with agility and skill, and performs brilliantly in circumstances that would incapacitate less disciplined teams.

Praise for "Conversational Capacity"

""This book blows the lid off everything you have learned about team building and will have you asking, 'Why didn't someone show me this before?'"" -- Rick Woodcock, Chief Technology Officer of the US Naval Institute, Annapolis

""Easy to implement, Craig Weber's techniques will transform your organization. We put these principles into practice and saw immediate results."" -- Scott Goodey, CEO, Greenpoint Technologies

""A must-read for leaders and those who aspire to lead. It's one of the most influential books on the value of teaming."" -- Benjamin Ola Akande, PhD, Professor of Economics and Dean of the George Herbert Walker School of Business and Technology, Webster University

Genres: Leadership, Business, Communication, Psychology, Nonfiction

242 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Diego · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recommended by my executive with a required book report out. Lol. There is some good information about finding balance when conversations get tough, a bit repetitive for the second half.

[Sammi King · Rating 4 out of 5]

✨ Genre: Leadership/development

Though I should, I generally don’t read leadership books. This one was required for my work retreat. It was actually quite good, inspiring, and helpful.

Conversational Capacity helps people identify if their tendency is to try to win or minimize in a conversation if the solution is being questioned. It also encourages teams to operate in the sweet spot through building curiosity by asking others questions about their ideas and opinions with the intent to truly understand their perspective.

[Steve Long · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, but I struggled with the coherence of the writing. Lots of great ideas drawing upon many other books and learnings, but it felt like it was written like a stream of consciousness. Even though it was concise, it felt like it could have been even more to the point.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe the only essential "management" book I've ever read.

[Andrea Brado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid concepts but as with most self help books lotssss of repetition.

[Cassie Pascarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone who works on a team should read this book. The concepts that Weber proposes are essential to a healthy work environment and culture. His ideas will shift the way you approach a conversation and give you good insight into yourself, your colleagues, your leadership, and your overall team by giving you tools to effectively communicate your ideas and react to other people's ideas.

As I was reading, there were so many moments where I thought "wow, this is exactly the problem facing my team at work. Our internal communication sucks. I should suggest this book to everyone so they can see the shortcomings of our team and understand why we have such high turnover." I truly believe every team out there should read this 'book club style' and come together to discuss how they can implement these practices. I highly recommend this book to everyone out there, especially those of you who want to improve your communication intelligence.

[Leanne Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked a lot of this book about how teams fail because of the need for everyone to be nice or a loudmouth dominating it all. He makes a good case for the price of silence like with plane crashes and the demise of the Columbia Space Shuttle! Weber posits why it's essential to encounter a range of ideas and perspectives to grow as a thinker! I can think of no better argument for why information literacy is so paramount!

[Brittany Ohnsman · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read this together as a team and part of a work book club. I enjoyed a lot of the concepts mentioned and the general topic of the book. The writing was less enjoyable, at times very clinical like and dull and then to move to storytelling aspects possibly from the author's own experience. Some stories I found myself asking "what! Why would he share this example". Overall I enjoyed the concept but didn't enjoy the writing.

[Jennifer Sailor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book very well identifies the problem we face in progressing communications and how self discipline is the only way to continue them, learn, and thus develop. Worth the read and certainly even more worth the self reflection.

[Amanda Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book the month before I met the author who came to speak to my Vistage group. He’s an excellent speaker and writer. Big take away from this book is to make connections a balance of being candid and curious.

[nisie draws · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful concepts and concretely maps out how to apply them. You can skim last half though, it gets really repetitive.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! I will hang on to this one and re-read in the future.

[Lyndsey Munn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was fine. Had to read it for work.

[Alex Doss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book and principles to help you listen to other people and how to de-escalate a situation.

[Rache · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conversational Capacity is a refreshing insight on the true challenges and expectations from leaders. That a board room full of the smartest folks would still choose either to be quiet or overstep others- both counterproductive. Our ability to say the right things and keep the right words to ourselves is something leaders don't mind - we are resigned to justifying it to our personalities.

This book gives practical,relatable, and relevant answers to those stressful conversations.

The book starts with an understanding of our paradigms, then gives practical communication tips, and ends with the importance of teamwork.

Imagine members of a team with their more-conscious, thought-of, polished conversational capacity. Imagine organizations with these teams!


Thank you for the aha moments Craig Weber!

[Jerrod Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Weber gives some very concrete ways to help increase our ability to communicate well. His advice is useful for an individual, but, as the title implies, is more fully valuable when used by an entire team.

It allows a team to form good communication habits before tough conversations need to happen so that tough conversations aren't avoided in the first place, or a disaster in the second place.

If you're concerned your team may be sweeping things under the rug instead of talking about them, or if you're the leader of a team and you think you're not getting the straight or complete truth, it's time to increase your conversational capacity.

[Todd Stark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear and well illustrated manifesto for our most important discipline for thinking together

This is a very valuable guide to the difficult skills for communicating better under difficult conditions. Probably the thing that sets this author’s thinking apart from most team performance discussions is the de-emphasis on trust. Conversational capacity, this book argues, helps us build trust, rather than trust being required for conversational capacity. If that’s true, the discipline of conversational capacity could be the missing key to the seemingly impossible situation of solving problems together when people mistrust each other.

[Joe Finch · Rating 3 out of 5]

We had Craig Weber come to my job to give a workshop on Conversational Capacity and while it was somewhat vanilla, the conversations went deeper than surface level to get us all thinking and opening up in ways we hadn’t in the past. While I don’t think there is anything groundbreaking or innovative with the concepts Craig introduces, I think his points operate as great refreshers and conversation starters for teams to build upon. Craig himself was a fantastic person, provided great energy, humor, and passion for his work, so that certainly contributed to my appreciation for his book.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read and has some good information.

[Mike Mayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good ideas new package

Much like other leadership books this one packages old ideas in a new way. It makes you think and opens your mind in a new way.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Repetitive