Participants in the City of Detroit Professional Development Book club will participate in an interactive guided reading and group discussion that will gauge the learners understanding and comprehension of the selected text.

Book of the Month: Surrounded by Idiots: The Four Types of Human Behavior and How to Effectively Communicate with Each in Business (and in Life) by: Thomas Erikson

Do you ever think you’re the only one making any sense? Or tried to reason with your partner with disastrous results? Do long, rambling answers drive you crazy? Or does your colleague’s abrasive manner rub you the wrong way?

You are not alone. After a disastrous meeting with a highly successful entrepreneur, who was genuinely convinced he was ‘surrounded by idiots’, communication expert and bestselling author, Thomas Erikson dedicated himself to understanding how people function and why we often struggle to connect with certain types of people.

Surrounded by Idiots is an international phenomenon, selling over 1.5 million copies worldwide. It offers a simple, yet ground-breaking method for assessing the personalities of people we communicate with – in and out of the office – based on four personality types (Red, Blue, Green and Yellow), and provides insights into how we can adjust the way we speak and share information.

Erikson will help you understand yourself better, hone communication and social skills, handle conflict with confidence, improve dynamics with your boss and team, and get the best out of the people you deal with and manage. He also shares simple tricks on body language, improving written communication, advice on when to back away or when to push on, and when to speak up or shut up. Packed with ‘aha!’ and ‘oh no!’ moments, Surrounded by Idiots will help you understand and communicate with those around you, even people you currently think are beyond all comprehension.

And with a bit of luck you can also be confident that the idiot out there isn’t you!

Session Dates/Reading Schedule:

4/7: Kick-Off Session
4/14: Chapter 1-3
4/21: Chapter 4-7
4/28: Chapter 8-10

5/5: Chapter 11-13
5/12: Chapter 14-16

5/19: Chapter 17-19

6/2: Chapter 20-21

Join Session here: https://cityofdetroit.zoom.us/j/87952467173

Professional Development Book Club Kick-Off Session: Surrounded by Idiots

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