University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
How to Work with (Almost) Anyone
Book

How to Work with (Almost) Anyone

Five Questions for Building the Best Possible Relationships

Michael Bungay Stanier
Page Two, 2023
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8

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Recommendation

Working relationships can affect your work performance, happiness and general quality of life. Getting those relationships right is a skill you must work to develop, however. In this helpful guide, Michael Bungay Stanier offers you the solution to building the best possible relationships: the Keystone Conversation. Learn to ask the right questions, and navigate difficult discussions with empathy and grace. Whatever your role, this transformative approach to strengthening connections and resolving conflicts will allow you to unlock the full potential of your work relationships and achieve greater success.

Summary

Build better relationships at work based on safety, vitality and resiliency using the “Keystone Conversation.”

Most people leave a job because they don’t get along with their co-workers or manager. If you’re someone who doesn’t get along well with others, this could mean a lot of job changes in your life. Skip the constant moving and learn the vital professional skill of working with others in healthier, more sustainable ways. 

Understanding how to build a “Best Possible Relationship” (BPR) is a crucial aspect of your professional development. This approach allows you to maintain brilliant connections, contain dysfunction in challenging ones and quickly get back on track when solid relationships waver.

Every BPR has certain foundational qualities. First, it requires psychological safety: trust that you will not face negative consequences for voicing your thoughts or questions or admitting worries or mistakes. Second, the relationship needs to feel “vital” and motivating: It must build on a balance of support and challenge, enable meaningful work, and promote continuous learning and...

About the Author

Best-selling author and speaker Michael Bungay Stanier’s previous titles include The Coaching Habit and How to Begin. 

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