People-Centric Skills, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 5Wrong Mode = Wrong Mood: Determining the Optimal Mode of Communication

DALTON'S EX-WIFE is Caleb's newly appointed soccer team manager and wants to make sure the communication issues that the team has suffered from in the past do not continue to occur. Over dinner, Leslie and Dalton discuss some situations that have developed and how they should have been communicated.

PEOPLE-CENTRIC SKILLS IN THIS CHAPTER

• Pros and cons of each mode of communication
• What the ramifications are of choosing the wrong mode of communication
• What mode of communication to use in any situation?

KEY WORDS

• Communication Mode
• Emotional Communication

Dalton and the kids arrived home after the long flight back to Dallas. They were unpacking as Leslie came over to help and to take them over to her place, a few miles away. Leslie was in a very chipper mood, joking around with the kids and being very complimentary to Dalton. He knew this was out of the normal. Ever since their separation and subsequent divorce, Leslie was usually very cold and impersonal around Dalton. They had a good relationship but Leslie was not outwardly friendly towards him. She tried to mask her frustration and disappointment with the situation but she could not; it was not something she was good at. She wore her emotions openly. Dalton was far from a perfect father and even farther from a perfect spouse, but he worked hard now to make this work. This was reality; there was no escaping the fact that they were divorced ...