Talk Action: How Successful Teams Align Conversations with Action
Have you walked away from a meeting thinking - So what do you want me to do exactly?
Have you been in a conflict and felt - But that’s not what I meant!
Many feel a disconnect between talk and action.
However, no action has ever happened outside a powerful conversation.
Talk Action provides the conversational framework to create productive, meaningful engagement in teams. This book will help you bust the myths around all talk and no action, find your ‘talk comfort zone’ by looking into the talk kaleidoscope, rewire your talk to end in action and use the five-part framework to resolve conflicts, influence career growth and build high-performing teams.
What's Inside
The Role of Conversations
Talk – Action is a spectrum with talk as the first part of action and action as the way every talk ends. The first step in changing our conversations is to understand the systemic view of how talk catalyses collective insights which build trust. Trust connects people, leading to cohesive engagement. Engaged teams can then collaborate well to harvest energized action
What is your Talk Comfort Zone?
Are you comfortable in all conversations? Same conversations with different people? What is your talk comfort zone? That is why our conversations are like lenses in a kaleidoscope. Shake them a bit, and new views emerge. Ask a friend to view the lens, and a new perspective emerges. Allow a bit of time to pass, and the lens changes again. And this tool—the talk kaleidoscope—is an invite to understand where you stand.
How to frame every talk towards action?
How often do we think of our talk in anticipation to inspire action, create meaning or influencing change?
If you did, what tools would you want in your kit to navigate every conversation?
How do we operationalize these theories, experiences and reflections into a conversation?
That’s what the VITAL—a positive conversation framework provides. This book uses the term VITAL as a powerful acronym which operationalizes action inside a conversation. If managers and leaders want to master their conversations, then this framework is not discretionary, it is imperative
How can we use the learnings in actual conversations?
Much like an iceberg, what we speak, the visible and factual part is but the tip of the iceberg, and much of the interpersonal part, the interpretation, listening and the space of the conversation, itself is the hidden part. What happens below the surface is the reason the conversations become sticky and chaotic. Learn how to apply the learnings in the book in 4 story studies – Real experiences in a fictional narrative.
Reviews
If you’re tired of your meetings and conversations ending with no more progress than when you started, then you need Talk Action! Latha’s research and insights will help you rewire your conversations to end in actionable items and create meaningful connections with each interaction. A must-read!
Dr Marshall Goldsmith
Thinkers50 #1 Executive Coach and New York Times Bestselling Author of Triggers, Mojo and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
We create our worlds through our conversations. After a long time, I had heard about a book that made me smile. Latha’s book shows how to frame conversations, so people engage and act. You will never look at your team interactions quite the same way.
Dr Ritu Anand
Chief Leadership and Diversity Officer, Tata Consultancy Services
We often get stuck in our interactions, unable to move from problem to potential, from idea to implementation. This is where tools such as the ‘talk kaleidoscope’ and ‘career dashboard’ from Latha’s book help managers and leaders to navigate conversations and inspire action
S. Sowmiyanarayanan
Senior Head, Credit Operations, Bajaj Finance
This book uniquely positions the talk–action spectrum to highlight the enigmatic power of conversations in a team context.
As a person interested in team dynamics research, this book has given me insights on how well intended, positive and authentic conversations could drive team engagement, team trust and team performance. The research-based VITAL framework is sequentially well constructed and is easy to understand and implement. Interestingly, the book also extends the lens to the virtual team context which is today’s reality. As organizations are increasingly relying on teams to solve their complex issues, this book comes in handy. The self-help tips and tools will make practitioners grab the book to take steps and make their teams engaged and effective.
Dr Upam Pushpak Makheja
Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Tiruchirappalli
The book has been closely researched and penned, and it outlines the basis of engagement often confronting people managers in companies―the ‘tough conversation’ and the role of communication in team dynamics. The VITAL conversation framework gives a good workable mechanism to make good teams work towards becoming great teams. The positive organizational environment, a critical driver for business results in the current volatile business environment, is enumerated through case studies and analysis. This is a recommended read for the current and future people managers and business leaders.
Balasubramaniam Muthuswamy
Recruitment Business Owner, Managing Director, XecTalent Advisors Private Limited
‘Conversations create transformation’ is the deep message that Latha is giving us in this book with relatable stories and structures.
Rajat Garg
Co-founder, Coach-to-Transformation
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