This week, I decided to read a different book. It was not the usual leadership development book, but surprisingly, it had many lessons on leadership.

After her diagnosis of young-onset dementia in 2014, all of Wendy's old fears melted away. What more was there to be afraid of when she faced her worst fear: losing her own mind?

In One Last Thing, Wendy embarks on a journey to explore all angles of death, including how we talk about it with our loved ones.

I’ve been dedicated to developing better conversational skills for years, mostly at work.

However, One Last Thing was a stark reminder that some of the most important conversations happen with our loved ones at home.

Wendy’s book shares statistics highlighting the challenge of difficult conversations at home and work.

In a 2021 report on public attitudes to death, 70 per cent of people said they felt comfortable discussing the topic of death with loved ones.

Yet, only 14 per cent reported having these difficult conversations with loved ones.

Research has shown the common reasons we don't talk about death include fear of the unknown, experiencing distress and becoming a burden to the family.

This dissonance to death conversations applies to other hard conversations, too.

We feel certain conversations are important, yet we don't have them.

Wendy’s story will inspire you to talk more with loved ones and colleagues about the things that really matter in life.

👉 What conversation do you need to have today, before it’s too late?

Wendy Mitchell died shortly after releasing this book. She spent 10 years campaigning for dementia awareness and was an advocate for assisted dying.