The 911 Emergency Dispatcher and the Workplace Conflict Manager: Your Solutions Connectors

Learning on the job is great, unless someone’s life or job depends on it. I often meet workplace managers who run quite successful businesses, yet feel somewhat lost, ill prepared, when a conflicted employee knocks on their door. On the contrary, 911 emergency dispatchers know exactly how to respond. The effective 911 dispatcher and workplace manager […]

Managing the Half-Life of Workplace Conflict

Recently, I was asked by a local organization to assess a workplace conflict situation and provide some recommendations for them, going forward. While I did that, I also realize that the tensions that had surfaced in the group don’t just end, full stop. In many ways, they morph and carry on, below the surface, in […]

That Was Picasso! A sports psychology model for mastering personal challenges

The PGA tour, professional golfer’s association tour, is winding down for another year, over the next few weeks. I golf. Not a lot; enough, though, that I’m motivated, after a bad round (not infrequent), to go out, and do it again. No pain, no gain? It’s the psychological side of golf that has me hooked. […]

Getting to Hello: A Strategy For Facing Unfamiliar Territory

Picture this – You are in a foreign land, and feeling uneasy. You’re crowded around a table, with people that you barely know. The conversation feels awkward. The food is different. You’re confused. Not in control. You ask yourself, what’s next? Yesterday, I did a workshop, on cross-cultural conflict management, for my local Inter-cultural Association. For […]

Sexual Consent, Serving Tea and Learning Through Metaphor

Sexual consent speaks to how we treat each other. When we choose consent, as our way, we choose constructive, relationship-oriented behaviour. We choose a collaborative way. How do we know if sex is consensual? Using ‘serving tea’ as a metaphor for sexual consent, this 3-minute animation by Blue Seat Studios (building on the work of blogger Rockstar […]