9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finding a vocabulary of power, July 19 2006
By S. J. Bockett - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Perfect Phrases for Managers and Supervisors: Hundreds of Ready-to-Use Phrases for Any Management Situation (Paperback)
Like all of Meryl Runion's books, "Perfect Phrases for Managers and Supervisor's" provides an innovative but very practical approach to communication. All too often, this topic is obscured by platitudes and grand theories, and it is difficult to find any practical ideas that can be tested out - in business even more so than in personal life.
We all accept the need to learn special vocabularies for increasingly new skills in our lives, little realising that it is even more important to have a specific vocabulary for communicating well. Good communication does not just happen: without the right words, good intentions are useless. I have found Runion's books to fill this gap admirably. And in this book she moves into the much neglected area of the workplace, one on which she is well qualified to speak.
As with her first-class, interactive newsletter "A Power Phrase a Week" Runion opens the door to new ways (including finding your own)to "say what what you mean and mean what you say without being mean about it."
Don't be misled by the apparent simplicity of the suggested formulas! Try testing them out, even modifying them if need be. You will find that your intentions to be more constructive are well and truly challenged. These ideas are the springboard for a better way of talking to each other, whether at work or at home, but this also involves continuing and conscious choices. On the other hand, it requires little thought to be unkind.
Not just as business communicators, but also as parents, we would do well to ensure we are good role models to those for whom we are responsible. Just as our employees do, our teenagers take the lead from us.
I unhesitatingly recommend this book for its proactive approach, as I do the all the earlier titles by Meryl Runion.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Invaluable Workplace Tool!, Jan 6 2005
By Reader - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Perfect Phrases for Managers and Supervisors: Hundreds of Ready-to-Use Phrases for Any Management Situation (Paperback)
Invaluable Workplace Tool!
This author really does her homework! I can think of numerous times in my management career where I have grappled for the right phrase when handling sensitive employee situations and personnel issues. Every manager and supervisor could benefit from this little book. It is easy reading, well thought out and provides the perfect words and phrases to get the job done! Thank you Meryl Runion!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect Help!, July 22 2006
By Kimmy Hawks - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Perfect Phrases for Managers and Supervisors: Hundreds of Ready-to-Use Phrases for Any Management Situation (Paperback)
If there is one thing I have not mastered in my life as of yet, it is speaking to those who work for me in a way that will not put them on edge - or make me look like a fool. Meryl's books has helped me get close!
This book, Perfect Phrases for Managers & Supervisors" is a must for my desk library. Anytime I have a confrontational or uncomfortable situation that needs to be addressed, Meryl's books have helped me with the perfect words to say -- and they have WORKED! Consistently.
I've used various phrases for apologizing, for firing, for interviews with perspective workers, for encouraging helpful ideas from the workers, dealing with "know-it-all" partners, diffusing anger, writing professional letters, giving positive enforcement without being phoney, just to mention a few.
Her book, and the others, have truly been the "Perfect Phrases" for any management, or personal, situation I've had to face. Not only do they help me come across in a kind and professional manner, they help me to personally feel like I've said what I truly wanted to say -- without being mean or attacking in what I said. Thank you, Meryl! Keep writing!