Tough Talks Book Series

Deliver Bad News and Motivate Your Employees More Effectively

“Tough Talks® in Tough Times: What Bosses Need to Know to Deliver Bad News, Motivate Employees & Stay Sane”

As a boss, you know hard conversations are inevitable. What you may not realize, though, is that they don’t have to be!  Jean Palmer Heck is an international communication expert with a passion for navigating difficult conversations—whether at work or in your personal life.

“Tough Talks® in Tough Times: What Bosses Need to Know to Deliver Bad News, Motivate Employees & Stay Sane” gives you a process for navigating tough talks.

You will learn:

  • The five-step CHECK® System for tough talks
  • What works and what doesn’t through actual studies
  • How to motivate employees when budgets are tight
  • What actions to take to keep yourself moving forward
  • Lessons about layoffs, terminations and performance reviews
  • Personal stories from corporate execs, small business owners and “the hatchet man”

This book is for you if you are a manager, a business owner, or a person who wants to advance in your career. Although the primary focus is on business, this book also has information that can be applied on a personal basis.

This book is not:

  • An expose of companies or industries that have fired people, laid them off or cut their salaries
  • Stories of disgruntled employees
  • A legal or psychology primer

This book does include:

  • Employee conversations that worked
  • Employee conversations that did not work
  • The impact on bosses
  • The impact on employees
  • Insights into hard discussions in life, death and war
  • Stories involving drugs, sports and rock ‘n roll
  • Tear jerking examples of lives that are coming to an end
  • Uplifting stories of relationships, in and out of business
  • Lessons on surviving the aftermath of delivering bad news
  • Information on motivating the remaining workforce
  • A process to follow for your next difficult conversation

About the Author

About Jean Palmer HeckIn March of 2009, when the world economy was clearly in the midst of a serious recession, Jean Palmer Heck began researching how bad news was being delivered in the workplace. She took her skills as an expert interviewer and asked human resource professionals, psychotherapists, small business owners, corporate managers and people in all walks of life about their experiences with giving and receiving tough talks.

After researching the subject with hundreds of people who shared accounts of their difficult conversations, many still reeling with emotion, Jean narrowed their advice and insights down to a five-step process. Although originally intended to be applied in the workplace, her five-step CHECK® System is adaptable to every day tough talks.

Find out how to deliver bad news and motivate your employees more effectively—order “Tough Talks® in Tough Times” today!