Talk about pain
June 10, 2013
Last week while I was sitting at the dentist’s office, waiting while my 2 boys completed their checkups, I absentmindedly perused the magazine pile on the coffee table. My choices were limited – various fashion magazines from 2011 touting winter skin care do’s and don’ts and the…
Where are our women leaders?
June 7, 2013
When I saw this article in the Winnipeg Free Press, my first reaction was I’m not surprised. My second reaction was This is totally depressing. “Only 10 per cent of management jobs are held by women. That includes presidents, vice-presidents and those in the so-called C-suite –…
Mediation and Strong Emotions: If you can’t go there in you, you can’t go there in them
May 22, 2013
Back in March, after seeing the latest Tarantino flick, Dave posted on dealing with strong emotions. He asked some important questions: Do the darker emotions we fail to recognize and work with in some active way have the potential to sneak up on us unawares and do more damage…
How to say no and still say yes
May 16, 2013
This week I mediated a conflict between a manager and an employee. One of the conversations they had was related to workload and boundaries. The staff person self-identified as a “yes man”, always wanting to help out and always having difficulty saying no. Both parties agreed tha…
An Ounce of Prevention – Part 2
May 8, 2013
Several weeks ago I wrote about what makes an organizational leader effective in managing conflict. In that original post, I suggested that if all managers were well equipped to lead meetings, coach employees to resolve issues directly with each other and informally mediate tens…
Eric’s Baby Girl!
April 15, 2013
Many congratulations to FS Partner Eric Stutzman and his family on the birth of his baby girl, born yesterday – a whole month early! Mama and baby are doing well. Wishing you all the best as you embrace the adventure of getting to know each other!
I’m Sorry
March 14, 2013
A colleague of mine often says that apologizing is a skill, and I think she’s right – people need to learn and practice how to do it well. Apologizing is not something that comes easily or naturally to us human creatures. Part of this is because it’s just plain difficult to ack…
Working with Strong Emotion: Django in the Workplace? – Part I
March 10, 2013
My massage therapist is a former professional hockey player. Well, almost professional. He played Junior hockey and had a try out with the Winnipeg Jets some 20 years ago. Recently, he told me some great Teemu Selanne stories from the training camp they attended together. Thi…
An Ounce of Prevention
March 1, 2013
Recently I was talking with Adrian, one of my FS Partners, about some of the themes we see in our work. We quickly realized that if all managers and organizational leaders were able to do these 3 things, our firm would go out of business: 1. Lead effective meetings, 2. Coach e…
Congratulations WCB!
February 21, 2013
Congratulations to Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba for being selected (again) as one of Canada’s best diversity employers. The competition recognized 50 organizations across Canada that led the nation in creating diverse and inclusive workplaces. See the full employer rev…