IS THIS YOU?

People who work with me are in leadership positions as managers, supervisors, and directors and want to strengthen their conflict competency. Their contexts are:

health care professionals in hospital settings,
municipal or provincial government employees,
managers or executive directors in non-profits or public service organizations,
staff/academics in higher education institutions, or
human resource managers.

These work settings expect a particular standard of interpersonal sophistication and it’s been my privilege to support leaders to really engage those tough conversations and to watch them grow in their own sense of empowerment and compassion as a result.

Example scenarios clients could be dealing with include:

Performance Management Issues
This is one of the most common minefields in the workplace and in the set of responsibilities a manager has. Unfortunately, most managers leave these tough performance conversations to a yearly grilling – if they happen at all. The most effective types of performance conversations are the ones that happen regularly, informally and honestly. Without the right tools to assert oneself respectfully, most managers find themselves preferring to go to a dentist for a root canal than hold one of their employees accountable for performance expectations. And yet, this is a crucial part of the job. Support in interest-based negotiation and assertive communication can be very valuable in this context.

Over-worked Manager
Another common scenario is – You are an over-worked manager with an open-door policy which seems to work. Yet, you also find yourself putting out fires, having to deal with employees who don’t even report to you or someone above you who isn’t quite performing. You’ve tried to solve these problems – yet the problems persist. This can often be a sign of a need to look at boundaries, priorities and limits. This can be hard to see on one’s own. Getting some help through coaching can really help you slow down and reflect on what’s working with your style of leadership and what could improve.

Feuding Co-Workers
You are a competent manager and you didn’t sign on for the revolving door of complaining employees coming into your office. Just when you think you’ve helped one person deal with her vexacious co-worker, that very problem person steps into your office next to fill your ear with the troubles that other person is causing. Most managers choose to become Solomon (and hand down a verdict of who is guilty and who is innocent) or beseech the people to work it out themselves. Both these approaches can leave employees feeling lost, resentful, powerless. This scenario of conflicted truths is very familiar to mediators and we can teach you how to take that kind of approach with your employees. Most employees need your help – maybe wearing your conflict coach hat, maybe wearing your mediator hat – but they wouldn’t have come to you if they didn’t need something. The bait is to try to solve it for them. The opportunity is to facilitate a new learning from the presenting conflict. That takes learning, training, experimenting. If that appeals to you – I may be able to assist you in that vision!

Phone: 250–381–7522 • E-mail: julia@juliamenard.com