Good Reading

In case you’re looking for some good reading, here are some books that are at the top of my list:

“Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking” by Malcolm Gladwell
Great collection of research studies on how our minds work, with or without us!

“Trust or Consequences” by Al Golin
A must for anyone working in (or interested in working in) public relations.

“The City Boy” by Herman Wouk
While Wouk is more widely known for his WWII fact-based fictional books “Winds of War” and “War and Remembrance,” “The City Boy” is a great story written wonderfully. The story focuses on the antics and agonies of an early teenage boy who gets himself into all sorts of situations, mainly because he’s trying to impress a girl. Typical! A fun read.

“Crucial Confrontations” by Ron McMillan, Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny and Al Switzler
Of course I have to mention Crucial Confrontations since I already pitched Crucial Conversations in my post last week! This is a great book for understanding and influencing human behavior. When you’re disappointed with someone, turn to this book to understand how to motivate and enable better performance.

“Mind Wide Open” by Steven Johnson
An interesting, albeit somewhat academic, look at how the mind works and why.

“Lincoln on Leadership” by Donald T. Phillips
Lincoln is one of my heroes, so I loved this book. It’s an easy read and points out how we can apply elements of Lincoln’s leadership style for greater success today.

“Pompeii: A Novel” by Robert Harris
A fact-based fictional account of the days before and during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Harris does a nice job of weaving in facts to a story line of his own creation. I’ve been to the ruins of Pompeii, so this was particularly interesting to me.

“The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis
If you haven’t read this book, it’s a must. Lewis teaches the principles of Christianity in reverse by sharing the letters from the devil’s assistant “Uncle Screwtape” to his newphew, Wormwood, who is a devil in training. Uplifting and entertaining at the same time.

I’m sure I’ll think of more great books after I post this, but I’ll let this suffice for now. Maybe I’ll post another reading list later. Happy reading!

Crucial Conversations Rocks

Thursday (Sept. 13) I did a one-hour lunch presentation about Crucial Conversations for an association of credit and collections managers. I guess since I’m around the concepts and skills of Crucial Conversations so much that I forget how brilliant it is. I love seeing the looks on people’s faces when they realize there are specific skills that can help them through some of their toughest situations at work and at home. For those of you who haven’t at least read the book “Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High,” do it!  I’m convinced that everyone who works in public relations can benefit from these tools. And if you can talk your employer into it, have them send you to the two-day course where you can really learn about what Crucial Conversations are and how you can most effectively deal with them. Okay, enough of the big pitch on Crucial Conversations from me!

I Did It Again

I started another section of Comms 421 at BYU last Monday, and it happened again. I managed to scare the students before the class even started. Thinking I was doing the right thing, I sent an e-mail the weekend before the semester started to give the class a heads up on the requirements of the semester and have them start looking for a nonprofit client. I also gave them a copy of the syllabus — again, trying to give them a heads up. They all came to class scared they were going to fail before the semester even started. If anyone can tell me why that is, please speak up! I even tried to clarify my intent by telling them that the purpose of the message was to give them a head start and prepare them for the semester, particularly since the class starts kind of late in the semester (because of the Labor Day Holiday). If any of my former students out there can give me a tip on how to approach that next semester, I’m open to suggestions. I’m looking forward to another good semester with this 421 class. I love teaching this class because it goes beyond the theoretical and foundational information PR students have been getting for a couple of years and lets students start doing real work. Let the fun begin!

Post article on PR

Ashley Green, who was in my Summer 07 Comms 421 class, sent me this link to a story in the Washington Post titled “Read It and Lacrimate.” It’s one journalist’s view of PR people that I think you’ll enjoy. I read the first half with a sinking feeling about the jargon cited in the press releases. I read the second half with a degree of satisfaction that three PR professionals were smart enough to stay out of the trap that this reporter set for them. I’d love to get your comments and thoughts on this article, too. Read it and submit a comment to this posting. Here’s the link (I’ve also attached the article as a Word document):

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501723.html?referrer=emailarticle