by Dr. Z | Oct 11, 2012 | Understanding Conflict, Workplace Disputes
A man in his late 50s constantly cuts out newspaper articles and gives them to his coworkers who he feels would enjoy them. He has worked with this organization for over 20 years and knows all the employees very well, including their personal interests. This man, for...
by Dr. Z | Sep 26, 2012 | Conflict Coaching, Understanding Conflict, Workplace Disputes
The following scenario recently happened to a good friend. How would you have responded? My good friend Josh is a very successful banker working for one of the largest banks in the country. He worked his way up the corporate ladder and now mentors other bankers often...
by Dr. Z | Aug 14, 2012 | Conflict Coaching, Thinking and Speaking, Understanding Conflict
How do people navigate the tricky boundary of mixing friendship and business? Most people say that you should never do business with your friends or your family. That mentality is captured in the old proverb, “Blood’s thicker than water, but money’s thicker than...
by Dr. Z | Jul 27, 2012 | Learning, Mediation and Communication, Understanding Conflict
A few months back I was conducting a training seminar for about 30 law enforcement officials. The title of the presentation was “Mediation Skills in Law Enforcement.” After some brief introductions and stereotypical presentation humor, I began to summarize...
by Dr. Z | Apr 24, 2012 | Learning, Understanding Conflict, Workplace Disputes
During a recent consulting project, an attorney relayed the following quote: When I first began my law career, I lost a lot of cases that I should have won. Now that I’ve been practicing for 20 years, I’ve won a lot of cases that I should have lost. His quote hints at...
by Dr. Z | Feb 22, 2012 | Understanding Conflict
Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a heated argument and thought, “How the heck did I get here and why am I arguing about this?” This is exactly what happened to me the other day with three close friends. We had decided to grab a beer and throw some darts...
