Blog
3 Strategies for Standing Up to the Office Bully
“He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.” ~ Lao-tzu Most people either endure working with a bully or leave their job, even if they love what they do. After all, it’s risky to stand up to a bully due to...
Release Family Baggage: Walk a Mile in Their Shoes
This month’s story around how family upbringing affects leadership and conflict management explores how Ryan found the gifts of resilience, empathy, and improvisation and uses them to his – and others’ – advantage. He leverages his history to create productive conflict strategies. Ryan tells the story of his upbringing below...
Workplace Conflict Taking Its Toll? 8 Questions to Determine if It’s Time to Move On
Are you struggling to get along with a difficult co-worker? You love your job, yet there's one person at work who makes your workdays virtually unbearable. On one hand, the job itself is great and you've worked hard to attain the position you're in and the respect you've earned. On...
Leverage your Family Role for Career Success
We continue our series of leadership stories, exploring the impact of family dynamics on conflict management styles. Today, we hear from Lee, a team leader who leverages experience from her upbringing to benefit her team by minimizing workplace tension. Have you ever felt like you’re in the same role at...
During Conflict, Do you Give Away Your Power?
Jeremiah could feel the stress building. For months I'd been listening to my boss's ranting about some production issue that hadn't gone as planned. I felt responsible as a leader and was genuinely trying to do a good job. I wanted to defend myself and explain my attempt to solve...
A leader’s Gift of Second Chances to Inmates
Tom would be the first to admit he wasn’t always comfortable with conflict. In fact, he used to avoid it at all costs thinking that all conflict was bad. So, when he pitched the idea to his senior leadership team about hiring inmates to work at the company’s manufacturing facility,...
Does your Staff Meeting Remind you of a Holiday Meal?
Imagine you have a team member, let’s call him Rob. He’s worked for your organization for years and knows your business inside out. At the same time, he has some rough edges. He has a short temper. If something doesn’t go his way, he can go from zero to ten...
A Boss’s Ripple Effect…on Employee Engagement
It’s the call no one wants to get. The call from a family member who tells you a loved one is severely ill. It was 2003 when I received that call on a brisk, cloudy October morning, shortly after I had arrived to work. My brother-in-law had been taken...
A Boss’s Ripple Effect…on Employee Retention
I wish you could have been there, sitting in my office as a fly on the wall. You’d hear story after story of courageous people who want to make sense of difficulties in their lives in order to be their best in both their personal and professional lives. Before...
A Boss’s Ripple Effect on Business Culture
Cheryl and her boss Dan were in a conversation about a project that needed to be accomplished. As the conversation was about to wrap up, Cheryl made a comment with an edgy tone that didn't directly address what she was upset about. Without skipping a beat, Dan calmly stood up,...
When Complainers Won’t Stop…
“Today we saved a life. We would have done the same for you.” During a recent international trip, the lead flight attendant made an announcement. “If there are any medical doctors on board, please go to the back of the main cabin.” When two doctors and one nurse anesthetist responded...