Free Hugs
September 29, 2006
When I watched this video, it brought tears to my eyes, sap that I am. I thought I’d try to leave you with a smile for the weekend.
Tip o’ the blog to Life 2.0 for linking to the video and making my day when I found it.
Getting Heard at Work: What to Say When You Don’t Feel Heard
September 29, 2006
“The more I think someone isn’t listening to me, the angrier I get. The louder I get.” She said this, well, quite loudly.
I was chatting recently with a woman exec named K. She’d called about some conflict management coaching and I had asked her what most trips her up in difficult conversations at home or work.
“So,” I replied, once the echo on the phone line had died down, “you tend to raise your voice when you don’t feel heard?” Talk about stating the obvious. She was succinct: “Yes. And I think it scares people sometimes.” Pause. “It scares me. I don’t like that I do it.”
K. isn’t alone. [Read more]
Channeling Elaine: How Seinfeld Helped Me Apologize
September 27, 2006
My Man from the Midwest, Rod, is a major Seinfeld fan. He still tunes in old episodes many evenings, though they’re all pretty well known to him already. I enjoyed Seinfeld when it was originally on t.v. but am not generally someone who wants to see any show again and again…and again.
But Elaine came to my rescue the other day, bless her. So maybe all that viewing paid off. If you’re not familiar with Seinfeld, Elaine (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) was one of the primary characters.
Some background and context is surely in order here. Elaine couldn’t dance. No, worse than that. Elaine’s dancing was like new age dance moves done by a Night of the Living Dead character. Just picture that for a moment. There was one episode in particular in which her frighteningly funny moves were the focus and Rod knows that episode well. [Read more]
A Few Words from Great Hearts and Minds
September 25, 2006
Here are a few posts by fellow movers and shakers whose reflections I value. I thought those of you who visit Conflict Zen might appreciate them too:
- Robyn McMaster’s Stay Positive to Negotiate Winning Deals
- Life 2.0’s How to Hire Innovative People
- Liz Strauss’ Finding Your Frequency in Business and in Life
- Christine Kane’s Reach Out and Trust Someone
- Ellen Weber’s 5 Top Questions to Ask Teams Before The Flop and What’d You Really Mean? Meta-Messages at Work
- Guy Kawasaki’s Why Smart People Do Dumb Things
Cheers,
Arguments, Conflict and Negotiation: Picking Your Battles
September 18, 2006
This one’s for any of you who step a bit too readily into conflict. The take-all-comers folks. Those of you who’d love to be a little less reactive to the day-to-day squabbles that make up a part of life.
When I was eight, I rather desperately wanted a pair of “boy sneakers.” Up until then, I had been wearing the little white canvas “girl sneakers” that a lot of mothers seemed to buy their daughters in the 60s. All of my girl classmates had them too.
I couldn’t stand those sneakers.
Conversational Paralysis and All Those Missed Opportunities
September 15, 2006
Have you put off a difficult conversation in one of your important relationships? Here’s what happened for one woman I know, the longer she put off confronting what was on her mind:
The longer I waited to confront the situation, the more my emotions and thoughts got away from me. My thoughts about what happened got jumbled and dramatic. My emotions got more complicated. So then I put off the conversation because [Read more]
Fear of Conflict: One of Five Ways Your Workplace Team Could Be Dysfunctional
September 13, 2006
Dr. Ellen Weber of Brain Based Business has an informative post this week on the culture of dysfunctional workplace teams. In the post, she discusses The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni.
One of the five dysfunctions is fear of conflict. Yep. I can believe that one.
How can I help your team’s functioning?
Copyright © 2006 by Tammy Lenski. All rights reserved.
