HBR's 10 Must Reads on Communication (with featured article "The Necessary Art of Persuasion," by Jay A. Conger)

Harvard Business Review’s 10 Must Reads on Communication features a compendium of research-laden articles from the flagship publisher’s archives on the topic of communication in the world of business. HBR’s aggregation includes pieces pulled from across the span of a little over a decade from Deborah Tannen’s The Power of Talk originally published in 1995 to Nick Morgan’s How to Become an Authentic Speaker originally published in 2008. While the scope of authorship is relatively narrow in terms of the snapshot in time that is represented by the articles contained therein, its authors represent a wide range of professional capacities including two CEOs, six professors, a sales executive, a communications consultant, and a venture capitalist.Four of the selected articles focus primarily on the art of communicating persuasively. These articles include Gary Williams and Robert Miller’s Change the Way You Persuade, Robert Cialdini’s Harnessing the Science of Persuasion, Jay Conger’s The Necessary Art of Persuasion, and Kimberly Elsbach’s How to Pitch A Brilliant Idea. Williams and Miller argue that “executives tend to make important decisions in predictable ways…and knowing their preferences for hearing or seeing certain types of information at specific stages in their decision-making process can substantially improve your ability to tip the outcome your way.” In essence, the takeaway is that what matters most is having the right information at the right time for the right person. As inferred by his article’s title, Cialdini writes from the perspective of psychological research which suggests that “there are six basic laws of winning friends and influencing people.” In highlighting the data, Cialdini is quick to note that psychological manipulation through communication techniques is not only inappropriate but ineffective in the long-term. “…the rules of ethics apply to the science of social influence just as they do to any other technology.” Conger’s central thesis is that times have changed and the new corporate reality is that “work today gets done in an environment where people don't just ask ‘What should I do?’ but ‘Why should I do it?’” Thus, the communication of leadership must appeal to a compelling motivator within their subordinates’ culture. Finally, Elsbach identifies three creative stereotypes—coined as artists, showrunners, and neophytes—in which “catchers” traditionally place those who are making a pitch. Elsbach highlights the reality that “Research suggests that humans can categorize others in less than 150 milliseconds. Within 30 minutes, they've made lasting judgments about your character.” As a result, persuading the adoption of one’s idea takes forethought into how to leverage the most effective stereotype for the circumstance in order to get the desired outcome. The “pitcher’s” art of communication can make or break any given proposal.In an intriguing article highlighting the dangers of intra-organizational silence, authors Perlow and Williams espouse the need for business cultures to be marked by a high valuation of open dialogue. As the article unfolds, we read about the high cost of silence in organizations and that “behind failed products, broken processes, and mistaken decisions are people who chose to hold their tongues rather than to speak up.”In The Power of Talk author Deborah Tannen holds that “any way of speaking could be perfect for communicating with one person in one situation and disastrous with someone else in another.” As a result, Tannen outlines various circumstances and what methods of communication might prove most effective in each.Morgan’s How to Become an Authentic Speaker and Denning’s Telling Tales share some common ground in that they both highlight the value of appealing to people’s hearts through communication that echoes sentiments of a more personal nature. Morgan, a multi-decade communications coach, encourages readers to “Focus not on what you want to say but on why you’re giving the speech and how you feel about that.” Similarly, Denning warns communicators about the dangers of a boring message. “Analysis might excite the mind, but it hardly offers a route to the heart-and that's where we must go to motivate people.Rounding out the collection are Weeks’ article on Taking the Stress Out of Stressful Conversations and Hamm’s The Five Messages Leaders Must Manage. In the former, Weeks points to—among many other things—the danger found in the gap between communication and intent. Oftentimes the message gets lost, on either end, when intentions fail to match up with expectations. As a result, good communicators find the right tools to address conversations with heightened tension. Finally, The Five Messages Leaders Must Manage as outlined by John Hamm are 1) organizational structure and hierarchy, 2) financial results, 3) the leader’s sense of his or her job, 4) time management, and 5) corporate culture. Hamm’s premise centers around the idea that “By recognizing the impact of clear and direct communication and seeking feedback from their teams, leaders leverage, rather than abuse, their positional power.”All in all, HBR's 10 Must Reads on Communication is a compelling read with enough substance to engage any communicator with tools to more effectively lead and manage the delivery of key messaging to their audience. Each article, on its own, delivers substantive commentary on the art of communication. However, the real value in this collection is not only finding what works in your particular circumstance but also curating elements from within each of the articles to craft a composite that’s tailored for maximum results in your leadership context.

For anyone interested in improving their communication skills, this is the book for you. I am interested in switching from Finance to Human Resource and this book was a great resource. The books detail various ways to improve how you communicate, with co-workers, managers, direct reports, etc. The book is an easy read and not too many pages; you can finish the book within 2-3 hours easily. It is best to take your time and read it carefully; it is important not to pass up any important information. Great book and will be a resource for years to come.

HBR’s 10 Must Reads On Communication gives readers compelling data and practical information on the many important factors involved in helping leaders communicate. The articles where professional written for leaders to pull out useful and real-world principles that everyday leaders would encounter as the strive to present and express mission, vision, plans, projects or any other message they may desire to others they lead.The compilation of articles in this book spends about half of its entirety on the topic of persuasion. Williams and Miller in Change the Way You Persuade, challenge presenters to understand the decision-making styles of their audience and plan accordingly. “Knowing the general characteristics of the different styles can help you better tailor your presentations and arguments to your audience” (Williams & Miller, 2002, p. 4). The five decision-making styles they propose are charismatic, thinker, skeptic, follower and controller. Curbing each presentation to these styles will promote better success for leaders who are trying to persuade others. Cialdini adds in his article Harnessing the Science of Persuasion that the ability to persuade is one of a leaders most critical tools. He gives explains six principles that when mastered can “bring scientific rigor to the business of securing consensus, cutting deals and winning concessions” (Cialdini, 2001, p.26). The six principles are liking, reciprocity, social proof, consistency, authority, and scarcity. By engaging in these principles leaders can begin understanding how others analyze information and make their decisions. Tannen takes a linguistic perspective on the idea of persuasion in her article, The Power of Talk. She states, “Everthying that is said must be said in a certain way – in a certiaiin tone of voice, at a certain rate of speed, and with a certain degree of loudness” (1995, p. 44). This article show how powerful the way an individual speaks can impact not just an audience but individual relationship in association with persuasive communication. Finally, Conger’s article, The Necessary Art of Persuasion lays out four essential elements that helps a leader to prepare a strategy of persuasion. 1) Establish credibility, 2) Frame goals for common ground, 3)Provide evidence, 4) Connect emotionally. Conger is convincing in the way he explains persuasion as more of an art then how Cialdini views it, more scientific.As the reader moves further into this book they come to Is Silence Killing Your Company?, an article by Perlow and Williams. The authors in this article clearly explain how silence can be detrimental to a company in many circumstances. If employees don’t feel empowered to speak up conflict can stay bottled up and creativity will be stifled. They speak to three ways an individual can break the silence; recognize your power, act deviantly, and build a coalition. Each of these are important steps to take but the author does not address the importance how the business culture effects whether these steps will be successful. Each step here can be stopped in its tracks if the culture of your company doesn’t encourage communication or doesn’t have an intentional process for it. However, if the company culture does encourage speaking up these steps can help an individual thrive.The next two articles, How to Become an Authentic Speaker by Nick Morgan and Telling Tales by Stephen Denning encourage speakers to be intentionally authentic in their speaking and utilize storytelling strategically in a message or presentation. Morgan’s focus is to help the reader see how “your intent” is crucial when you plan to be open with your audience, connect with your audience, passionate about your topic, and how you listen to your audience. These ‘intentions’ assist a communicator and will help them come across as authentic. Denning’s article helps to guide a leader to use the ‘power of narrative’ in a business setting. He cautions an individual to avoid using lengthy details that will make executives eye glaze over. The author takes an approach that storytelling can help bring alive certain situations and bring a creative flare to what might be otherwise boring data. Denning states, “Storytelling can translate those dryad n abstract numbers into compelling picture of a leaders goals” (2004, p. 118).Elsbach’s article, How to Pitch a Brilliant Idea tends to focus more on the “catcher” than the “pitcher.” She suggests the catcher, those receiving the presentation, categorizes pitchers into showrunners (smooth and professional), artists (quirky and unpolished), and neophytes (inexperienced and naïve). The author suggests that each pitcher show encompass one of these three categories when the pitch something to their executives. It is hard to imagine that an executive would want, as this author titles, a neophyte pitching an idea. Inexperienced, naïve and ignorant are not necessarily the best quality traits for someone pitching a brilliant idea.In The Five Messages Leaders Must Manage, Hamm challenges leaders with five messages that leaders should portray in order to avoid miscommunication. Hamm articulates how important a clear, focused vision can be. It will be communicated from a leader to those he/she manages will be impacted by; the organizational hierarchy, financial results, the leader’s understanding of his or her job, time management, and the corporate culture. When these messages can be communicated throughout the organization it forces top to bottom employees to unify and communicate the same thing together.In the final article of the book, Taking the Stress Out of Stressful Conversations, Weeks persuasively boils down stressful conversations to taking on three different forms; “I have bad news for you”, “What’s going on here”, “Your attacking me”. Weeks article acknowledges there are times, especially in conflict or stressful times, that how we react, what and how we speak, and our preparation will determine successful communication.Overall, HBR’s 10 Must Reads On Communication is very beneficial in helping leaders to communication with more clarity and passion. I would recommend this book to not just business leaders but for anyone that is looking to better communication in their specific area. The principles in this book can be used and achieved in many different environments. One critique on this book would be to limit the articles on persuasion. The topic of communication is extremely important and widely written on. I would like to see topics in the ten articles be different from the each other.

It's in great shape for a used book. Can't really tell that it isn't new. Great collection from some of the great minds in business and communication.

Great, pithy essays with a lot of helpful nuggets. Love HBR’s must reads. Highly recommend to those who would like to enhance their communication skills.

Who does not want to communicate in a more appropriate manner? That is what this book does. Its articles present the reader with practical advice on how to persuade, speak up and reject silence in business settings. I was especially drawn to Perlow & Williams’ article, “Is Silence Killing Your Company?”. As we have come to respect silence as wise or virtuous, it also can cause problems. We have all spent time being quiet when in fact, we had something we thought was important to say. Have we been better for it? Perlow & Williams answer that there is a time to speak up and a time to remain silent and that we would be better off, most of the time, to say something in the appropriate context at the appropriate time. They fill their article with anecdotal evidence and stories to tell the reader that even silence communicates something, so it is better to speak up.