Unspeakable: The Taboo Topics We Avoid and How to Talk about Them

We avoid sensitive yet crucial topics at our own peril. Harvard Business School's Christina Wing provides tools for communicating with clarity and compassion.

We live in a world where the list of off-limits topics keeps growing--at work, among friends, even at home. Age, retirement, succession, failure, money, politics: these subjects often feel too sensitive to touch. So we avoid them, sticking to small talk. But avoidance comes at a cost. When we can't address the realities shaping our lives and careers, trust erodes and relationships suffer. Is this really the new normal?

In Unspeakable, Christina Wing argues that it shouldn't be. Drawing on decades of experience working with family-run businesses and in boardrooms and classrooms, Wing reveals how fear and inhibition undermine performance--and how learning to address and talk about the "unspeakables" can improve our organizations and our lives. This is not a call for reckless candor; it's a practical guide to speaking and acting with clarity, empathy, and respect.

Through vivid stories--from family firms derailed by secrecy to global companies paralyzed by conversations that don't happen--Wing shows the costs of dodging the truth and what changes when we face it. Each chapter tackles a different topic, from estate planning and unemployment to race and religion, offering strategies and scripts to help readers navigate these issues with confidence.

Leaders, colleagues, and families need deeper relationships built on honest discussion, not small talk. Unspeakable gives you the knowledge and tools to start those conversations--and make workplaces and lives more open, honest, and resilient.

Christina Wing is a faculty member at Harvard Business School, where her research and teaching focus on family enterprises and leadership. She created the popular MBA course Demystifying the Family Enterprise, chairs the Executive Education program Families in Business, and is a sought-after speaker in the broader family-enterprise field. She is the founder of Wingspan Legacy Partners, advising founders and families at the intersection of family dynamics, ownership, succession, wealth, and impact.