"Let's Talk"

In her latest book, Therese Huston tackles the important—but all-too-often fraught with peril—practice of giving feedback. 

Let’s Talk: Make Effective Feedback Your Superpower (Portfolio/Penguin Random House), which comes out next week, is the third book authored by Huston, who was the founding director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and is the faculty development consultant for the since renamed Center for Faculty Development. 

“Giving feedback can be just as scary as getting it,” reads a description of the book. “Managers dread the seemingly inevitable hurt feelings and awkward pauses.” All too often, avoidance is the preferred route, with 37 percent of managers sharing that they dread giving feedback and 65 percent of employees wishing their managers provided more of it. 

Enter Huston’s book, which combines practical advice with real-life examples to help people master the skills needed to give honest, constructive and affirming feedback. 

“Let’s Talk belongs in the hands of every supervisor who wants to give effective feedback,” writes Beverly Daniel Tatum, PhD., author of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? and Other Conversations About Race. “Full of practical suggestions undergirded by workplace research, this user-friendly guide will give you the tools you need to bring out the best in the people you work with.” 

Learn more about Huston’s book at Let’s Talk and read a review in Harper’s Bazaar. Visit Fast Company for a recent piece by Huston.