It seems like at any given time I’m reading up to five different books.  Most of them are specific to either healthcare or have a general management theme.  I pick them up – I put them  down – I move to another book – and the cycle perpetually continues.  I’ve been doing this for years but there is one book that I come back to far more often than any other:  Crucial Conversations:  Tools for Talking when the Stakes are High.  This valuable resource was presented for discussion at my first ever “MedMan University” in the Spring of 2009.  As a mostly management/sometimes consulting company, we often find ourselves in the position of having to deliver a difficult message to a hospital board, a group of physician owners, an under-performing manager and more.  Crucial Conversations has been the most relevant ‘read’ for me in the past several years as it has provided me with the right focus (“Start with Heart”) and easy-to-use tips on starting and managing a difficult conversation.  I’m of the mind that just about every conversation we have in the business arena is a ‘crucial conversation’ and I frequently pull my book off of the shelf and flip to the pages that I have tabbed before starting a difficult talk.  I’m reminded over and over that it’s not what we say but how we say that it distinguishes us and ultimately impacts whether or not our message is heard at all.  If you haven’t yet read (or re-read) Crucial Conversations, I encourage you to do so – it’s well worth the read.