Nonviolent Communication
Marshall Rosenberg spent his career mediating conflicts, from schools to war zones, and out of that work he built a method he called nonviolent communication. The approach asks people to slow down and follow four steps: observe without judging, name the feeling, identify the need behind it, and make a clear request. The aim is to replace blame and demands with honest expression and real listening, so that people on opposite sides can hear each other. The book is full of dialogues and examples. Satya Nadella made it one of the first books he asked Microsoft's senior leaders to read after becoming CEO, as part of his focus on empathy.
What you might want to know about Nonviolent Communication
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Psychologist Marshall Rosenberg lays out a way of speaking and listening that focuses on feelings and needs to reduce conflict and build understanding.
Marshall Rosenberg's method asks you to observe without judgment, identify the feeling, name the underlying need, and make a clear request. The goal is honest expression and genuine listening.
When Nadella became Microsoft CEO in 2014, he asked senior leaders to read it as part of his push to make empathy central to the company's culture.
Nonviolent Communication was written by Marshall B. Rosenberg, published in 2003 by PuddleDancer Press.
Nonviolent Communication is 240 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Nonviolent Communication takes most readers 4 to 5 hours to finish.
Nonviolent Communication is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
