Two anniversaries and a book

50 years of “Communication Square”, 25 years of “Coaching & Moderation”

 

 

 

 

Scarcely any literature between Kiel and Klagenfurt has influenced professionals in communication, psychology and Coaching like this: Friedemann Schulz von Thun´s bestseller “Talking with each other”. Me, too, and that´s why I would like to recollect that book particularly on the occasion of my 25-years-anniversary as an executive coach which I am celebrating in May 2024. Two scientists from St. Gallen/Switzerland are going to do the same since Schulz von Thun´s most important concept, teh Communication Square, was developed and presented to the public in 1974, 50 years ago and still no standards of the Professor for Psychology from Hamburg have been published in an English version.

This is absurd, at least in the opinion of Fabienne Bünzli and Martin Eppler, and so they commemorate Friedemann Schulz von Thun in the presumably eldest special interest research journal, the International Journal of Business Communication, having been founded in Chicago in 1963. And I am sure: “Talking with each other” will have an impact even in the UK and US-market that is flooded with expert literature since decades.

Bünzli/Eppler, “Spotlight on a Thought Leader – How to become an Effective Communicator: Schulz von Thun´s Contribution to Business Communication”, in: International Journal of Business Communication, vol. 61, iss. 2, April 2024, pg. 484 – 491.

From the practice:

Any single sentence may be interpreted in four different directions: as a fact (factional level), as an expression of relationship between sender and receiver (relational level), as a hidden appeal (appeal level) and as hint onto the own state of mind (self outing level). This key message behind Schulz von Thun´s Communication Square has opened my eyes and facilitated my life: I comprehended that I did not have to read almost any communication in a relational manner – on the contrary: I learnt that all of a sudden I was provided with space for creative scope when dealing with others. I learnt that only very few content that people wrote or said to me was actually meant as a rejection or an assault or anything considered to harm me. How lovely! 3/4 out of ca. 3.000 clients from ca. 500 organizations whom I was supporting as an executive coach from Chicago to Dubai have participated in my experiences since I recommended them fullheartedly Schulz von Thun´s little book.

I will keep on doing this because still I have not found anything better regarding this issue.

What about you?