Listen Up or Lose Out - by Robert Bolton & Dorothy Grover Bolton (Paperback)

About the Book

Are you having trouble communicating? Maybe you should try talking less--and listening more.

Book Synopsis

Learning how to actively listen and absorb what a person is saying, thinking, and feeling can set the stage for dramatically improved relationships and increased personal success.

Most people retain only a fraction of what they hear, resulting in miscommunications and lost opportunities. In Listen Up or Lose Out, communications expert Robert Bolton highlights the underestimated and under-utilized tool of active listening and explains how it can be used to gather perspectives, bridge differences, and resolve problems.

Bolton teaches you key communication skills by:

• breaking down listening into a set of learnable skills such as avoiding the urge to criticize, question, or advise;
• focusing on the speaker's point of view;
• asking the right questions, in the right order;
• and learning how to read people's feelings and reflect them back

Listen Up or Lose Out explains how one can become a skilled listener who experiences fewer conflicts, makes better decisions, and discovers opportunities that others might miss. Whether personally or in business, could you benefit from better communication? Give listening a try!

From the Back Cover

When it's time to clarify a situation, spur action, or win over hearts and minds, most of us start talking. But there's another form of communication that's far more effective: active listening.

Listening gets others to open up, calms tense situations, reduces misperceptions, and improves relationships. But listening well doesn't come naturally for most people. It's a skill that must be learned.

Based on years of behavioral research, Listen Up or Lose Out helps you practice the tactics and habits of great listeners. Step by step, the book teaches you to focus on the other person's point of view, ask the right questions, restate their key points, read feelings, keep conversations flowing, resist the urge to interject, find solutions together, and more.

Imagine how much more influence and goodwill you can spread when you absorb what a person is saying, thinking, and feeling--instead of just thinking about what to say next. Master the listening process and you'll reap the rewards:

- Troubleshoot and solve long-standing problems - Steer difficult conversations in productive directions - Bring people together and help them collaborate - Influence others to rally around your ideas - Create high-functioning teams that always deliver - Gain a reputation as a bridge-builder - Achieve your goals, one relationship at a time.

Robert Bolton, Ph.D., and Dorothy Grover Bolton, Ed.M., are cofounders of Ridge Associates, a training and consulting firm that serves many Fortune 500 companies. Together, they are the authors of People Styles at Work . . . and Beyond.

Review Quotes

..".most people retain only a fraction of what they hear. The solution is active listening. It's not a new skill, but the Boltons dust it off nicely and show how to master it." --Success magazine

..".not a new skill, but the Boltons dust it off nicely and show how to master it." - Success magazine

About the Author

ROBERT BOLTON, PH.D., and DOROTHY GROVER BOLTON, ED.M., are cofounders of Ridge Associates, a training and consulting firm that serves many Fortune 500 companies. Together, they are the authors of People Styles at Work...and Beyond.