by Productive Conflict | Leadership
I often see two different types of leaders. The first apologizes for everything. A missed deadline. A vendor’s mistake. The weather. “Sorry” becomes a verbal tic, offered so often it stops meaning anything. The second never apologizes at all. Something goes wrong and...
by Productive Conflict | Leadership
People disappoint us. They make mistakes, carry blind spots, and cause harm, sometimes without knowing it, sometimes knowing it very well. Most of us respond by defaulting to one of two positions: we absorb it to preserve the relationship, or we harden against it to...
by Productive Conflict | Leadership
Reflections from the Big Thinking Summit, Edmonton, June 2026 From June 9 to 11, 2026, I had the pleasure of attending and presenting at the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences’ Big Thinking Summit in Edmonton. It was three days of conversation across...
by Productive Conflict | Leadership, Organizational Conflict
You can feel it immediately. The tension is palpable, but no one is saying anything about it. Maybe it’s been building for months. A slow accumulation of unspoken grievances, competing priorities, and bruised egos. Maybe it erupted suddenly. Either way, the conflict...
by Productive Conflict | Leadership
You’ve attended the workshops. You’ve applied the frameworks. Your intentions are good, and your commitment is clear. Yet you still encounter resistance you can’t explain, notice impacts you never intended and manage recurring conflicts. Here is what is missing:...
by Productive Conflict | Leadership, Power Dynamics
Three Things Every Leader Needs to Know Even the most experienced leaders face moments of powerlessness. It’s a consistent human experience. Hard situations trigger emotional reactions, unsettling our sense of power and agency. When our sense of power is shaken, it...
