Do you need a mediator? Part 1: Maybe you actually want an adjudicator?
It happened again, and I wasn’t unhappy about it. Some folks contacted me asking if I would mediate a conflict within their nonprofit. It hasn’t always been smooth sailing when this happened in the past.
Role Clarification as Conflict Mitigation
Unspoken expectations are a classic catalyst for conflicts to hatch and thrive. One of the more insidious examples is how people define (or don’t) the role someone plays in an organization or on a team. Learn how to have a role-clarifying conversation in this article.
Team Decision Making
There’s not one optimal way for teams to make decisions, so having a good understanding of several methods will help you make an informed choice when deciding how to decide.
High Standards as a Pathway to Justice, Part 2: What about the people who struggle with...people?
In this second and final part of the High Standards as a Pathway to Justice series, we’ll look at how to support folks who are “not people people” when an organization elevates the expected standards for interpersonal communication and repair when there is conflict.
High Standards as a Pathway to Justice, Part 1: What about the people who struggle to get on board?
Let’s talk about the folks who struggle when an organization throws its code of conduct in the trash and moves to create a culture of repair and justice instead of one based on surveillance and punishment. This comes down to two related questions: What about people who are not on board with communicating and interacting in a repair-oriented way? What about the people who have historically had a difficult time with nuanced human interactions that we expect not to fare well when repair-oriented interpersonal communications are an expectation within the team?
Teaching Organizational Culture
In my time cultivating oodles of leaders and leadership teams, it was repeatedly reinforced that paying attention to creating team culture is worth the effort. I’ve seen so many teams latch onto the quirks, foibles or neuroses of their leadership team, for better or for worse - generally for worse.
How to Find Workplace Allies
It can be lonely in a challenging work environment. When you know things can be better and you have ideas for making that change happen, trying to do it alone is enough to make many people not even bother to try.
Cultivating Leaders with Appreciation
I frequently hear from people in organizations (particularly nonprofit organizations) who want to cultivate more leaders from within but are struggling to get people to step into leadership roles. One huge barrier to people stepping up is that they see and hear (and maybe are repeatedly told) that leaders in the organization are not appreciated.
When your teammates are angry
There was a heartbreaking moment at a recent webinar where I was co-presenting. One leader told the group about how the changing and ambiguous future was affecting her team. Specifically, someone was angry with every decision and every step forward. Really angry.
Reigniting Motivation: Choice
Have you ever been frustrated or mystified by someone telling you “I had no choice” when it seemed pretty obvious that they made about 100 choices leading up to that moment? Or how do you feel about hearing the old saw: there just are no good options? If there truly were no choices to be made life would be quite a bummer and evaporating motivation would be understandable and unavoidable. Choice can be a powerful motivator.
Reigniting Motivation: Purpose
One of the very worst aspects of motivation is when it leaves you mid-project and you still have a long, long way to go.
Team Building vs Team Development
“Stop Wasting Money on Team Building” a Harvard Business Review title screamed at me. “Most corporate team building is a waste of time and money” was the terse opening line of this article from Carlos Valdes-Dapnea. At this point my blood pressure probably (definitely) skyrocketed and my mind was already racing to provide an eloquent counterargument (more likely a sputtering aggressive beat-down) in response to this shot across the bow.
Building Positive Team Culture
Here's a guest blog I did for the Rose City Rollers! Derby athletes train all the time. All. The. Time. On skates. Off skates. They train to acquire and improve individual skills and to enhance team performance. When it comes to the individual athlete, we often talk about mental toughness and the ability to perform under pressure.
