AVAILABLE
OCT 20
People often know which subjects matter. What they don’t always know is how to discuss them without sounding greedy, disrespectful, disloyal, intrusive, or unkind.
Unspeakable offers stories, scripts, questions, and tools for approaching those conversations with greater preparation and judgment.
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Discover why some conversations are so difficult to have and how to start talking about what matters.
WHAT’S AN UNSPEAKABLE?
The subject isn’t necessarily hidden. It may be hinted at, discussed privately, or already influencing decisions—just not with the people most affected.
So people wait for a better moment. They hope someone else will bring it up. In the meantime, plans form without shared information, decisions are made around people rather than with them, and the conversation happens too late—or only after circumstances force it.
The question isn’t only, “Is this difficult?” It’s, “What’s made this subject feel off-limits—and what would make it possible to discuss before assumptions shape the outcome?”
People often hesitate because bringing it up may sound…
GREEDY
DISRESPECTFUL
DISLOYAL
INTRUSIVE
Accusatory
UNKIND
GREEDY
DISRESPECTFUL
DISLOYAL
INTRUSIVE
Accusatory
UNKIND
GREEDY
DISRESPECTFUL
DISLOYAL
INTRUSIVE
Accusatory
UNKIND
CHRISTINA WING
Helping families, leaders, organizations, and students talk about the taboo subjects already shaping their decisions.
Across Harvard Business School classrooms and her advisory work with business-owning families, Christina has seen how often the formal decision is only part of the conversation.
Questions about succession, ownership, performance, money, and responsibility become more difficult when age, readiness, fear, family history, or what happens next feel too personal to discuss openly.
That experience—along with the conversations her own family never had—led Christina to write Unspeakable: a practical, case-led guide to understanding why certain subjects become taboo and finding a thoughtful way to bring them into the conversation.
HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL FACULTY
AUTHOR OF UNSPEAKABLE
FOUNDER, WINGSPAN LEGACY PARTNERS
TOPICS EXPLORED
Age, retirement, and succession
Failures, mistakes, and apologies
Death, estate planning, and inheritance
Work-family conflict
Money
Fear
Age, retirement, and succession
Failures, mistakes, and apologies
Death, estate planning, and inheritance
Work-family conflict
Money
Fear
Age, retirement, and succession
Failures, mistakes, and apologies
Death, estate planning, and inheritance
Work-family conflict
Money
Fear
Age, retirement, and succession
Failures, mistakes, and apologies
Death, estate planning, and inheritance
Work-family conflict
Money
Fear
Layoffs, firings, and unemployment
Ownership and governance
Religion and race
Politics
How to have the conversation
Layoffs, firings, and unemployment
Ownership and governance
Religion and race
Politics
How to have the conversation
Layoffs, firings, and unemployment
Ownership and governance
Religion and race
Politics
How to have the conversation
Layoffs, firings, and unemployment
Ownership and governance
Religion and race
Politics
How to have the conversation
WHAT READERS WILL FIND
Scripts for the conversations people most want to avoid
Reflection questions to clarify what’s really at stake
Conversation starters for taboo and sensitive topics
Practical tools for preparing before the stakes are highest
Stories that show what silence can cost — and what becomes possible when people begin
Christina Wing pairs vivid stories with clear scripts to show us how to talk about money, power, succession, layoffs, politics, and more in ways that build trust rather than secrecy or fear.
Amy C. Edmondson
Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management, Harvard Business School Author, (Atria, 2023)
is both profound and practical. It’s for everyone who cares about their effectiveness and their legacy.
Jim Koch
Founder, Chairman, CEO and President, Boston Beer Company
Read and start finding the trust and depth you want from your relationships.
Arthur C. Brooks
#1 New York Times bestselling author of
When we avoid uncomfortable topics, the results can be catastrophic. Professor Wing will help you have the conversations you want to avoid but need to have.
Kim Scott
Author of
I can’t stop talking about Christina Wing’s . This timeless and beautifully written gem helped me understand why it’s so hard — and so crucial — to talk about forbidden topics such as money, aging, failure, and family conflict.
Robert I. Sutton
Stanford Professor Emeritus and bestselling author of and
Christina Wing has written a brilliant and empathetic book about the devastation that can result when we don’t say things that need to be said. Unspeakable is a blueprint for how to make our professional—and personal—relationships deeper and better.
Bethany McLean
Contributing editor at Vanity Fair and bestselling co-author of The Smartest Guys in the Room
INQUIRY
BRING THE TABOO SUBJECT INTO THE CONVERSATION
WITH CHRISTINA WING
Invite Christina to speak, join a media conversation, or work with your organization on the taboo and sensitive subjects already influencing decisions, relationships, and outcomes.
SPEAKING / MEDIA / PODCAST / BULK ORDERS / PARTNERSHIP / OTHER
INQUIRE ABOUT SPEAKING OR MEDIA
AVAILABLE
OCT 20
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