Your stories are always so perceptive and poignant to me. The one about the sharks when you were 14 years old, and how that applies to our social interactions was perfect. A story you told way back in 2007 “And One For Tanya” I still use once in a while when my group, Ethical Society Mid Rivers, is having a talk or discussion about giving and generosity.

As Leader of the Ethical Society, I have encouraged all my members to read and study Crucial Conversations. I tell them it’s the number one ethical skill. To give them some structure, I have offered half a dozen or so guided tours through the book, explaining that I am not a “teacher” of the skills but just someone who has gone through the book (many times) before them, and that essentially the six-week program will be a self-study book discussion.

Is there a way I can contact you to ask you about my offering the same thing to a community college? I don’t want to violate any boundaries of your trainers, but think there must be a way to get the word out to more people, to get more people to see the value of crucial conversations skills and to acquire and study the book. The local community college has asked me, as Ethical Society head, to teach a couple of evening classes on ethical issues. There are plenty of topics for me to teach on, but I would like to get people focused on the “primary” ethical skill. I would describe myself as a fellow student of the book, not a VitalSkills certified trainer, and I would send anyone who wants more in-depth practice in the skilss should contact VitalSkills. I don’t feel that I would be truly competing with you, but rather tilling the soil, so to speak, and trying to spread the influence of the book you have put out for public consumption.

Thank you.