A zen saying goes roughly like this: “The use of the wheel is where all the spokes form to make the hole.” Another: “The most useful part of a bowl is the empty space within.”  As a leader, my role hasn’t been to necessarily build things, but to facilitate the best in the people I […]

I was given an opportunity to retire after 35 years on the job and pursue some new challenges. “Retirement” is nebulous to me.  All that term means right now is closing this chapter and moving to the next. But the timing is such that I found myself questioning, “When do I really pull the trigger?” […]

As leaders, we face ethical challenges every day.  Ethical frameworks exist to provide some systematic approach to govern decisions.  While the study of ethics frames this question in “How should we live our lives?”, I want to examine right now the “What am I going to do?” question, especially as it relates to the individual in a company leadership […]

You don’t just “get there”: As any parent who has driven with children can appreciate, our subordinates, peers, and bosses all want to know “are we there yet?”

I hope you enjoyed this series on intractable conflict.

Choose carefully what you want to fight over. Pick the battles that are REALLY worth fighting over.

There are clear pitfalls that occur, intentionally or not, when conducting negotiations.

Success will be measured not in how we deflect it and hold it at bay, but in how we engage it and mold it to benefit the needs of our community.

In conflict, there will always be petty tyrants who want to advance their own egotistical agendas, and they will always be able to keep yes-men and weaklings in their employ.