Thoughts and Insights by Michael Gregory

This is how to apply collaborative leadership to negotiations

Collaborative leadership is all about giving employees a voice, a chance and autonomy in decision making.  But how does this work in negotiations? Employees want clear expectations and they want to know what is expected of them. This takes explicit delegation.  This article looks at explicit delegation related to negotiations and presents three elements that could derail the process.  Taking these into account can make a real positive difference in a negotiation.  If you have employees working for you and they have to negotiate with others, this is directly on point. If you have to negotiate on behalf of your employer with others this is directly on point for you too.

Here are the best books for a better life in 2020

As a researcher, writer and speaker that focus on collaboration and overcoming conflict one of the sources that I receive content from is The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California at Berkeley. As experts in neuroscience with a recommended reading list of 10 books to provide “thought-provoking, practical and inspirational science” I wanted to share these and another book with you too

This is how to grow a business

You may have heard to follow your passions, but if your passions are not financially viable this could be a disaster when initiating a business. Money matters. How much money do you need? You have to satisfy needs. Not wants mind you, but needs. When you are passionate about something, you likely spend a lot of time working on that activity and success follows. Success breeds more success.

Happy Thanksgiving: The Healing Powers of Gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving!  

Bias awareness can significantly enhance collaboration

This past week I was fortunate to hear Sybil L. Dunlop speak on Implicit Bias at the Minnesota State Bar Association Alternative Dispute Resolution Section. She gave an excellent presentation and gave us a lot to think about. Doing some more research around this topic I wanted to share some of what I learned from her and additional research that I found helpful. Awareness is key.

Working with a crazy person - try self distancing

It has actually been found that speaking to yourself in the second or third person rather than the first person can change your emotional focus. Why is that important? When you find yourself starting to feel angry, this self-distracting technique can and actually will help you better regulate your emotions. This is a very powerful tool. The thing is to remember to do it. This is how. This three-step process can help you control your own temper and become known as the person that remains cool under pressure.  Both of these can help you with others, your career and at home.

Here are three great ideas to promote effective collaboration

Would you like to work in a more collaborative environment? Studying improv, generations and various sources it appears the keys for collaboration are diversity, equality and focus. That is, it takes effort. The more we focus on these three items with an intention towards collaboration, the more likely we will be able to create an environment for effective collaboration. Let’s take a look at all three.

This is the critical first step towards collaboration and improvement

Often times leadership comes up with an idea, works the idea and then plans to implement the latest brainstorm. So why don’t employees simply buy into the idea completely and carry out the idea? They have seen this before. Not all ideas are great ideas. So how can the process be improved? Consider engaging employees in the process along the way. This is not necessary for every decision, but for major ones, this is critical.

This is how to address conflict at work

We all have conflict every day at work, at home and in life.  Did you ever stop to think that conflict stems from one of the three broad areas relating to task, relationship and values?  This article takes a look at all three and offers you some ideas to help.  There are other ways that can be used to classify conflict, but for the purposes of this article these three headings offer one way to explore the topic.

This is how to deal with difficult people and negotiations at work

There are times at work when you have to deal with difficult people and negotiations at the same time. Sometimes you have to deal with difficult situations and negotiations at the same time too. This commentary explores sources to provide you with tools you can use to prepare for and address these types of conflicts.