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Conflict Zen

conflict resolution for organizations, teams, executives and managers

Conflict zen newsletter, october 2008: the age of conversation edition

29 October 2008 by Tammy Lenski 6 Comments

The age of conversation is a time that values dialogue. The kind of dialogue that helps create compelling ideas. That fosters healthy debate and smart decision making. And that builds strong relationships.

I’m dedicating this issue of the newsletter to The Age of Conversation 2, a new book that is being released today (and I’m part of!). Here’s what’s on tap:

  1. Join me in the age of conversation
  2. Buy the book and help kids at the same time
  3. Meet the contributors
  4. And, of course, the monthly digest of Conflict Zen® articles

[Read more...]

Filed Under: News and announcements Tagged With: age of conversation

Sherlock Holmes goes camping: A story about perception

17 October 2008 by Tammy Lenski 7 Comments

untangling disagreementsSherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went on a camping trip.

After a good meal and a bottle of wine they bunked down for the night and went to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his friend. “Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.”

Watson replied, “I see millions upon millions of stars.”

“So what does that tell you?” asked Sherlock.

Watson pondered for a minute. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Conflict management stories Tagged With: Flor, Interface, Sherlock Holmes

Honoring conflict resolution day: what 1 thing will you do?

14 October 2008 by Tammy Lenski 7 Comments

healthy relationships“Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually. Peace, for example, starts within each one of us. When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us.” – His Holiness the Dalai Lama

This Thursday, October 16, is Conflict Resolution Day, an international celebration held annually to celebrate conflict resolution processes that empower individuals, families, villages, communities, organizations, businesses, and nations to foster communication and collaborative responses to conflict.

To honor this year’s event, I’m inviting you to bring peacemaking down to the individual level and make a commitment to do one simple thing of your own choosing. One thing that starts peacemaking with you. One thing that’s a specific behavior or action…not just a dream or a hope or a grand plan. One simple, concrete thing.

Here’s my one thing: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Workplace influence Tagged With: conflict resolution day, Dalai Lama, Twitter

A mediator's take on stress

12 October 2008 by Tammy Lenski 9 Comments

keeping your balanceWhenever I see my doctor, she asks me if I’m still mediating and conflict coaching. “Yes!” I reply with zest, knowing what’s coming next. “How’s your stress level?” she asks, looking a little worried on my behalf.

I understand that most normal people consider the act of stepping into the middle of other people’s conflicts a stressful choice. Years ago, while donating blood and chatting it up with the Red Cross nurse, I mentioned I’m a mediator. She looked at me, aghast, and slapped her hand on my forehead as though taking my temperature. “Let me get this right,” she said, “you willingly walk into other people’s disagreements?!”

Maybe I’m just in denial, [Read more...]

Filed Under: Workplace influence

The art of untangling conflict: a lesson from peacemaker Jimmy Carter

10 October 2008 by Tammy Lenski 3 Comments

untangling disagreementsIn 1978, Egypt President Anwar Sadat, and Israel Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed the Camp David Accords, a treaty brokered by U.S. President Jimmy Carter and for which Sadat and Begin later received the Nobel Peace Prize.

A teenager at the time, I still recall the powerful emotion I felt as I watched the signing on television. Many years later, by then doing my own work helping people navigate complex conflicts and negotiations, I read Carter’s Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President because I could still viscerally feel in my heart that moment in 1978.

I’ve never forgotten the following story from Carter’s memoir because it moved me to tears. And it taught me something powerful about the real art of helping people untangle conflict. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Conflict management stories Tagged With: anwar sadat, camp david accords, jimmy carter, menachem begin
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Conflict Zen ® is about the simple yet powerful habits of mind and word that radically shift problems and turn conflict into opportunity. Dr. Tammy Lenski, a conflict management consultant for 15 years, shares what really works for organizational, management, business and executive conflict resolution.

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