Al Switzler

Al Switzler is a trainer and consultant who spent much of his career in management education. He taught at Auburn University, the University of Kentucky and the Graduate School of Management at Brigham Young University, and he was on the faculty of the Executive Development Center at the University of Michigan. In business he ran two consulting firms, led marketing for an information company, and directed training for a health-care company.

In 1990 he co-founded VitalSmarts, now Crucial Learning, with Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny and Ron McMillan.

The four wrote Crucial Conversations (2002). The book argues that most problems in teams, families and companies trace back to conversations people avoid or handle badly. It teaches a path for these talks: start with what you really want, watch for the moment safety breaks down, restore it, and share facts before conclusions. Switzler also co-wrote Crucial Confrontations, Influencer and Change Anything with the same team.