Transforming Communication in Leadership and Teamwork ─ Person-centered Innovations

The book authentically integrates the perspectives of an experienced international consultant in the field of leadership and a professor with extensive experience in leading and managing international information technology projects. At several points in the book, the two authors share their viewpoints through personal dialogue, inviting the readers to reflect on their own experience. Furthermore, the metaphor of two intertwined agendas – an executive, business-related one and an interpersonal, experiential-oriented one – is introduced to allow us to see a bit more clearly where the challenges lie, not only behaviorally but also in the realm of how our brains and bodies work. We want, need to get the job done as efficiently as possible but, equally, there’s a part in us that can take into consideration others’ feelings, needs and ideas. When the two integrate and build over time, then we’re all learning to win. That’s the core message of the book: We’re afraid of listening closely for fear of losing sight of our own agenda. Around that message numerous practices, examples and applications are integrated to optimally support a persistent absorption of the book’s message and increase the opportunity for demonstrative, constructive change at the workplace.

Dr. Renate Motschnig is a professor of Computer Science and the head of the Research Group CSLEARN – Educational Technologies at the University of Vienna, Austria. Since her studies in the ‘80s, she has been conducting research on the multiple ways in which understanding and significant learning happen, both in education and through life experience. Renate Motschnig has held positions at the University of Technology, Vienna; the RWTH Aachen in Germany; the University of Toronto, Canada; the Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic; and the Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia. Renate is an author/co-author of more than 150 peer-reviewed, scientific articles; three books on person-centered communication; and a co-editor of two recent books with Springer on Interdisciplinary Aspects of the Person-Centered Approach. She participated in numerous international events based on the Person-Centered Approach and is applying the resulting insights in proposing and leading major international research projects in the field of constructive communication, teamwork and web-technology. Currently, she is determined to foster a style in management and higher education that is based on person-centered attitudes, our co-actualizing potential, and thoughtful support by web-based technology. She appreciates synergies between presence and distance, cognition and feeling/meaning, and a multitude of disciplines and cultures.

David Ryback, Ph.D., ABPP is an adviser to corporate presidents and trains executives and managers on the advantages of using Emotional Intelligence to create better and more successful companies. His programs and books have been seen and read throughout the world. He is the author of Putting Emotional Intelligence to Work: Successful Leadership is More Than IQ, and three other books. He is an internationally recognized authority on emotional and social intelligence in schools and workplace and remains at the forefront of the latest research on applications of emotional awareness and related aspects of effective communication. A former consultant with Rohrer, Hibler & Replogle in Montreal, Canada, he has also done research and published on such topics as perception affected by mindset, emotional intelligence, interpersonal communication, scholastic achievement, and enlightened management. After publishing his book on emotional intelligence, Dr. Ryback founded his consulting and speaking business, EQ Associates International. In response to the demand for his speaking and consulting services, he has traveled across the country, to Canada, Europe, the Mideast and Far East where he speaks and consults. He made a presentation to the National Speakers Association national convention in San Diego and presented a seminar for McGill University in Montreal, Canada on integrating emotional intelligence into the classroom. Dr. David Ryback is a unique speaker with a unique message. Using concepts from his book, Putting Emotional Intelligence to Work, he shows his audiences how to face what is authentic in themselves and others and develop their deeper self, with the help of clearly understood take-away points. As a former teacher, college professor and international consultant, he has the depth of experience for that message.