book club

In 2022, a conversation unfolded on IndieCHAT when one of our members expressed concerns about bringing up a prickly topic with a client. As often happens during  IndieCHAT, the empathy and encouragement flowed forth freely. War stories of triumphs and flops poured from unexpected sources and the wisdom shared seemed to penetrate everyone. That’s how  IndieCHAT goes, isn’t it?!

In side conversations, a few of us mused, “How rich would it be if we could cultivate conversations just like that intentionally?” Wouldn’t it be powerful to have a space where we just talked about the sticky situations we face as consultants? Would people even be willing to open up about how they navigated bumpy terrain with clients? What are the good resources people recommend?

We launched our “book club” with the intention of focusing on the finesse of difficult dialogs. We are all professional communicators, so obviously we start from this shared expertise: this provides a forum to pursue mastery. The book selection is merely scaffolding. Ask anyone who has come to join us and they’ll readily reassure you that reading the book is not the point. The point is that in our line of work we often have to say the hard things, and that is a skill that can be honed.  To join in on the conversation, visit our IPA Linkedin group for access to Book Club: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14131987/

Book Club is held on the 2nd WEDNESDAY each month, 2PM Eastern / 11AM Pacific. Remaining 2024 dates include:

• November 6* 
• December 4*

                                                                * Holiday date adjustment