The First Book that I have chosen to give away at Business Owners Book Club: Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life by Marshall Rosenberg

We seem to be living in volatile, angry and violent times! A report in Guardian states:

… the best data we have suggests that, overall, we are indeed getting angrier. Last year, 22% of respondents around the world told the Gallup organisation they felt angry, a record since the question was first asked in 2006. And something else, even harder to measure, feels like it’s different as well: it’s as though our anger has curdled, gone rancid. As a society, we seem not to express it and move on, but to stew in it – until, at the extremes, it hardens into violence and hate.

These are the times when people are looking for philosophies (like Gandhism) and tools to facilitate peace and healing in afflicted communities. This is not an easy path as most of us have our own turmoils. Before we even think of healing the world, how may we begin to deal with agitation in and around us? How may we constructively communicate with people – especially with people we strongly disagree with and maybe even despise?

This is where Non Violent Communication (NVC) can help – an approach to nonviolent living developed by Marshall Rosenberg – founder of the Center for Nonviolent Communication.

NVC has already created quite an impact – as this note here shares – each year, hundreds of thousands of people are taught Nonviolent Communication (NVC) around the world….with hundreds of trainers….across more than 35 countries.

I have had the privilege of meeting few NVC Practitioners – I can help connect with them if anyone is interested.

A primer on NVC is available here (PDF). Excerpts from this PDF:

Nonviolent Communication is the integration of 4 things:

1 – Consciousness: a set of principles that support living a life of compassion, collaboration, courage, and authenticity

2 – Language: understanding how words contribute to connection or distance

3 – Communication Skills: knowing how to ask for what we want, how to hear others even if in disagreement, and
how to move towards solutions that work for all

4 – Means of Influence: sharing “power with others” rather than using “power over others”

NVC serves our desire to do three things:

1 – Increase our ability to live with choice, meaning, and connection
2 – Connect empathically with self and others to have more satisfying relationships
3 – Sharing of resources so everyone is able to benefit

Happy Reading!