About Authors In the Field

The Authors In the Field Series is a monthly gathering that shines a spotlight on emerging voices in the coaching arena. At Hudson, we are nurture our curiosity and foster dialogues with authors who enrich the coaching profession, providing invaluable resources for our community.

In this session, Dr. Summer Allen — author of Lose the Debate: A Practical Guide to Emotional Intelligence and Successful Dialogue — joined the Hudson community to explore what it actually takes to stay present in high-stakes conversations. Her core premise: the moment winning becomes the goal, the other person becomes an opponent, and curiosity, listening, and real understanding go out the window.

Dr. Allen walked through her ACTER model — Appreciating diversity of opinion, Curiosity, Triggers, Emotional regulation, and Respectful listening — a five-part framework for approaching difficult dialogue proactively rather than reactively. She also introduced the EQGI, her assessment tool for measuring contextual emotional intelligence, and discussed how understanding our own developmental context changes the way we show up in conversations with clients, colleagues, and the people closest to us.

Whether you’re a coach, a leader, or just someone who’s ever lost their footing at the dinner table, this conversation offers a genuinely different way to think about disagreement — not as something to win, but as something to move through.