What criteria should be applied to people we hire, those we promote, and those we let go? What makes someone a good person versus a bad person? How should hard-to-resolve conflicts be handled at our organization? What’s your preferred form of communication and why? What enables you to deliver your best work? What stops you from it?

So let me introduce you to the main skill required here: mastery over the four major languages spoken in organizations. I’ll call the four languages Posturetalk, Powertalk, Babytalk and Gametalk.