Day: January 4, 2023

Book review: ‘Communicate with Courage’ by Michelle D. Gladieux

‘Communicate with Courage’ is the new book by communication coach Michelle D. Gladieux. Photo: Amazon

Michelle Gladieux is an author and President of Gladieux Consulting, a Midwest-based team known for top-notch design and presentation of seminars in communication and leadership topics around the U.S. She provides executive coaching and facilitates strategic planning for clients in diverse industries, in governments, at non-profits, and in academia. She has 18 years of collegiate teaching experience at three universities in her home state of Indiana, accepting her first adjunct faculty position at age 23. She has worked as a Human Resources and Training Director in the cold storage, robotics, and construction industries and enjoys visiting conferences as a keynote speaker and workshop presenter. In her new book “Communicate with Courage: Taking Risks to Overcome the Four Hidden Challenges,” she teaches readers how to become fearless and peerless communicators by confronting the psychological blocks holding them back. (Michelle Gladieux, 2023)

“Communicate with Courage” – Being a good communicator is one of the best ways to make a difference in the world, but it takes courage to open up to others and invite others to open up to you. In the Preface, Michelle D. Gladieux explains that the purpose of the book is to help with communication skills not only in the workplace, but in daily interactions with family in friends right now and in the future. As a lifelong communication coach, she has discovered four obstacles that can keep you from becoming the best communicator you can be 1) Hiding—Fear of exposing your supposed weaknesses, 2) Defining—Putting too much stock into assumptions and being quick to judge, 3) Rationalizing—Using “being realistic” to shield yourself from taking chances, engaging in conflict, or doing other  but potentially rewarding actions, and 4) Settling—Stopping at “good enough” instead of aiming for something better in your interactions. Overcoming these challenges requires taking risks—to reveal yourself, question your beliefs, take a leap of faith, or move out of your comfort zone. This book is divided into ten chapters, including one for each of these hidden challenges as well as Risks Not Worth Taking, and The Most Important Conversations to Have. Each chapter includes a real-world practice called a Pro Move and an exercise, both designed to help you overcome hang-ups and take more joy in communicating.

Being an effective communicator is an important skill yet one of the hardest to improve. It requires knowing your strengths and weaknesses, constant practice, and most of all, a genuine desire to grow. According to the author, becoming a brave communicator is “achieved by looking at potential payoffs rather than focusing on what can go wrong, and pushing past mediocre.” This is a small and easy to read book, mostly because the language is simple and down to earth. With the suggested Pro Moves and exercises, readers can practice their communication skills and put them to work in their lives. The subject matter makes this a reference guide worth circling back to re-read portions that might need refreshing over time. Highlights include Chapter 8 Risks Not Worth Taking where even though she encourages taking risks, she emphasizes that you should not risk your sanity by “engaging with manipulative or unethical people” and Chapter 7 Hidden Challenge #4: Settling for ‘Good Enough’ where she states the importance of outsmarting the urge to settle; in this case, raising your hand and letting people know what you have to say, diplomatically of course – voicing your opinion and experiences. “Communicate with Courage” is an effective guide to improving communications skills to become a braver and more effective communicator. It is recommended for readers who enjoy books on business management and personal enrichment focusing on communication and social skills.

“…there’s something waiting on the other side of courageous risk-taking for you, something good, illuminating, and life-giving. Whatever it is, it won’t come fully into view until you deviate from the safe route as a communicator.”

*The author received a copy of this book for an honest review. The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to her.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Doug Paisley announces honest and adventurous new album Say What You Like

Doug Paisley new album Say What You Like will be released March 17, 2023. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Since the release of his self-titled debut fifteen years ago, Doug Paisley has earned compliments for his self-reflective songs delivered with simplicity and beauty. Though Paisley has always collaborated with Canadian musicians including celebrities like Garth Hudson, Leslie Feist, and Mary Margaret O’Hara, his records have drawn nostalgia from moments when the listener hears Paisley as he most often hears himself: unadorned and alone with his guitar. Canadian songwriter Doug Paisley’s new album Say What You Like is a snapshot of an artist functioning at his best and highest level—honest, exposed, searching, and yet comforting in his ability to communicate the universal in the struggles of the individual. Due out on March 17, 2023, it is his first release since 2018’s Starter Home which landed on The New Yorker’s Ten Best Albums of the Year and a step in a brand new direction as the first release with Paisley’s new record label Outside Music, a welcoming, Canada-based home for a Canadian artist who has long been signed to U.S.-based labels. (Doug Paisley, 2023)

With the help of producer Afie Jervanen—perhaps best known as recording artist BAHAMAS—the album manages to be groovy too. One gets the sense from these songs that Paisley simply must write. “As a songwriter these days,” he reflected, “there’s very little to gain and very little to lose so I am working only from the heart, there’s no other motive” and on Say What You Like, it shows.

Paisley shared the music video for Say What You Like’s titular opening track with fans. “Say What You Like” finds Paisley wrestling with past friends’ or lovers’ opinions of him, all backed up by a lightly funky rhythm with a slightly country tinge not seen since the early days of J.J. Cale’s lo-fi productions. “When something important disappears from your life, your imagination is sometimes called upon to fill the gaps,” Paisley says. “You could fill another universe with all the things people imagine other people are saying or thinking about them.” Featuring Jurvanen and Christine Bougie on guitars, Don Kerr on drums, Felicity Williams on harmonies, and Darcy Yates on Bass, “Say What You Like” is a welcome introduction to what the future holds for Paisley, his songs, and his sound.

“Say What You Like” can now be streamed or purchased and the full album can be pre-saved or pre-ordered ahead of its March 17 release. 

Say What You Like track list:
Say What You Like
Sometimes It’s So Easy
Wide Open Plain
Rewrite History
Almost
If I Wanted To
I Wanted It Too Much
Make It A Double
You Turn My Life Around
Holy Roller
Old Hometown

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