One conflict that took centre stage over the last week had to do with statues commemorating the Confederacy, and their link to racism and white supremacy. (The image above is of Confederate General, Robert E. Lee, and is in Charlottesville, Virginia; credit: Joshua Roberts/Reuters) From an early age, I was put on notice about racists and […]
Make Conflict Your Organization’s Strategic Advantage
August 7, 2017 by · Leave a Comment
Recently, I helped a nonprofit mediate an internal conflict. The conflict involved people who were avoiding each other, because of the conflict. People often avoid each other because of conflict. However, when the employees are co-workers who need to work together, the cost of this avoidance can be high, on morale, collaboration and productivity. Alas, workplace conflict […]
Shalom: Dispute and conflict and educational moments in a nonprofit board
July 31, 2017 by · 4 Comments
Disputes are conflicts, our differences, brought to light. In 14 years of mediating business and community disputes, I’ve observed that a dispute is also, as often as not, a proxy for a hitherto unexpressed conflict, be it a gap in communication, a feeling that somethings not quite right, here, a hot button pushed… the list […]
It’s the leaders’ responsibility to confront sexual harassment in their workplace
July 24, 2017 by · Leave a Comment
Culture starts at the top of the organization. The bottom line is that its the organization’s leaders who must take responsibility, lead the charge, for making the workplace safe, free of unwanted sexual harassment. Sexual harassment in the workplace is pervasive The American Heritage Dictionary gives the sexual harassment definition as: The making of unwanted […]
How conflict grows from “something’s not right, here” to “see you in court”
July 18, 2017 by · Leave a Comment
It’s crazy how something that’s a minor annoyance to us can mushroom into a full-blown dispute. Apart from my own mushrooms, I see this all the time, as a mediator. One party has a gut feeling that somethings not quite right. Before the dust has settled on that feeling, its magnified into something bigger. They […]
