Influence in Action: How to Build Your Conversational Capacity, Do Meaningful Work, and Make a Powerful Difference

The acclaimed author of Conversational Capacity shows you how to exercise more effective leadership—and find deeper purpose and meaning—by building your ability to engage in open, constructive, learning-focused dialogue when it counts.   With his breakout book, Conversational Capacity, Craig Weber revolutionized the concept of business communication by teaching a veritable conversational martial art that allows teams to perform well and remain open, balanced, and nondefensive as they tackle their most troublesome issues. His proven methods have been used to bolster the performance of executive groups and flight crews, as well as surgical units and CDC emergency response teams. Even more impressive, in over a dozen U.S. states it is even helping Democratic and Republican legislators work together more effectively as they craft public policy.  In Influence in Action, Weber goes deeper, showing you how to put these principles into practice―using a step-by-step program that includes case studies, sample dialogues, skill-building exercises, and powerful conversation techniques. This book will help you balance candor and curiosity under pressure by honing your awareness, shifting your mindset, and sharpening your skills. Better still, it will help you do this as you inspire constructive change all around you.  Research shows that people yearn for more meaningful work. They want to feel like active participants in the workplace. They’re eager to be more engaged. They’re raring to make a difference. And what is leadership if not influence in action?

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgments Introduction The World Needs People Willing to Stand Up, Speak Out, and Make a Difference CHAPTER 1 The Case of Steve The Key to Conversational Leadership Lies in Your Capacity to Influence PART I AWARENESS CHAPTER 2 Disciplined Awareness Learning to Control Your Beam of Attention CHAPTER 3 Personal Awareness The First Step in Getting Out of Your Own Way CHAPTER 4 Situational Awareness Paying Attention to People, Patterns, and Purpose CHAPTER 5 Awareness Practices Building Your Ability to Focus on Purpose PART II MINDSET CHAPTER 6 The Conversational Capacity Mindset Turning Your Mind into a Workshop CHAPTER 7 Expanding the Sweet Spot Eight More Balanced “Character-istics” CHAPTER 8 The Leadership Mindset Taking Responsibility and Being Constructive CHAPTER 9 Strategies for Embracing and Strengthening Your Mindset Building Your Ability to Place Learning Over Ego PA RT III SKILLS CHAPTER 10 Candor Skill #1 Stating Your Position CHAPTER 11 Candor Skill #2 Helping Others See Your Thinking CHAPTER 12 Curiosity Skill #1 Testing Your Hypothesis CHAPTER 13 Curiosity Skill #2 Inquiring into the Hypotheses of Others CHAPTER 14 Sharpening Your Skills Learning to Balance Candor and Curiosity, One Skill at a Time PART IV MOVING FORWARD CHAPTER 15 Putting It All Together Building Your Skills While Doing Meaningful Work CHAPTER 16 Your Road Map to Competence Crafting a Powerful Personal Plan CHAPTER 17 The Illusion of Conclusion Why Your Leadership Journey Never Really Ends Notes Index

About the Author :
Craig Weber is the founder of The Weber Consulting Group, an alliance of experts committed to helping people build healthy, engaged, and adaptive organizations. He shows people and teams how to improve their performance by treating dialogue as a discipline. An award-winning consultant, advisor, and speaker, he has worked with leaders and teams from 40 different countries and from such diverse organizations as Boeing, Kaiser-Permanente, The Royal Bank of Canada, Ingram Micro, Pfizer, SAP, The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, The Medical University of South Carolina, Clif Bar, PWC, NASA, Los Alamos National Labs, The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Air Force, and Vistage International, among others. He is the author of Conversational Capacity.