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A few weeks ago I got a call from the agent of four television stars seeking some assistance from a conflict management expert. As the agent and I chatted, I learned that all four stars are anticipating the upcoming Christmas season, with its family gatherings, fast pace and occasional stress.
All four have reputations—in the [...]

“I’ve got an employee who refuses to change. Can you give me some tips for making him understand he’s got to change the way he’s doing things at work?”
So wrote a reader, I’ll call her Chloe, who’s in middle management at a university. I hear this question frequently during workshops, too, so decided it’s time [...]

When I first heard this recording many months ago, I knew I wanted to share it with friends and family during the holiday season. It seems just the right time for this moving message by Alan Stewart, who has generously given me permission to stream his recording here for you.
What Really Is Important? by Alan [...]

Hacks, or lifehacks, are clever or quick ways to help simplify or improve a problem. As of this month, I’ve renamed my monthly QuickTips posts “Conflict Hacks.”
We’ve all been the giver or receiver of a feedback sandwich at some point. A feedback sandwich goes like this:
First slice of bread: “Hey, Ana, good [...]

The talented Christine Kane has “tagged” me as one of the next links in a cyber-chain, sort of like a chain letter but more fun. To keep the chain going, I have to share five things you probably don’t know about me and then I get to tag a few folks. Ok, here are [...]

I’ve been working with Marion over the past few weeks. Marion, you may recall, is a Conflict Zen reader who contacted me after a frustrating experience involving a client and and an invoice. She and I chatted and she agreed to permit me to write about the coaching experience here, while keeping key [...]