One of the areas of employee health and wellbeing is our emotional health. Most people run into challenges or conflicts with co-workers that drains their energy and negatively impacts their wellbeing.
We don’t talk about conflict management as a part of our standard wellness program because it feels outside of our scope. I tell you what…it’s not! Giving employees the skills to deal with difficult conversations can absolutely enhance their wellbeing.
Today’s guest is Dave Gerber. Dave specializes in transforming workplace conflicts and calls himself the Conflict Healer. Dave is President and Founder of Synergy Development and Training, LLC who motivates people to become the best version of themselves. Dave is also an Executive and Leadership Coach, Learning Expert, Trainer and Author.
In today’s episode, we talk about how he got into conflict management as an area of specialty, how conflict helps with productivity, the costs of conflict within organizations and tips on how to handle conflict.
Biggest Takeaways You Don’t Want to Miss:
- We can embrace conflict and use it as a stimulus for conversation and change, getting to know one another better and building relationships.
- People are decoding communication in their own language, whether it’s the spoken word or body language.
- Although we label a lot of our conflict as relationship issues, another source of conflict may really be the cause.
- We have to find the primary source of conflict to get to a solution.
- Conflict happens in one of two ways – it either hits us right away or we have time to prepare for it.
- Unresolved conflict takes up our discretionary energy.
- Conflict resolution skills are a part of building your leadership presence.
Check out these highlights (with timestamps):
- Why conflict is a stimulus for human productivity. [8:57]
- Main areas of conflict Dave has seen in organizations. [11:14]
- The importance of standardizing conflict management within an organization. [12:27]
- The 5 different sources of conflict. [16:00]
- Be future focused: why you need to practice the conversation before you actually have the conversation. [24:31]
- WAIT = the acronym Dave uses to help people slow down their reactions. [28:15]
- The costs of conflict to an organization. [30:15]
- We need to get better at conflict so robots don’t take our jobs. [38:40]
Mentioned in this episode:
http://www.conflictcalculator.com/
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davegerber/
Full Bio
Dave Gerber, President and Founder of Synergy Development and Training, LLC is a change catalyst, motivating people to become the best version of themselves. Dave inspires his audiences to transform the way they engage with the world around them, build stronger relationships and organizations. His dynamic, humorous style and remarkable depth and breadth of content has earned him the reputation of “best speaker ever” by many of his audiences. His talent for simplifying complex ideas into elegant solutions, is a gift that leaves participants with actionable learning that they can implement immediately as he helps us “Prepare for Robots!”
A passionate “teacher, healer, warrior and poet”…Dave Gerber is more than a dynamic speaker. He is also an Executive and Leadership Coach, Learning Expert, Trainer and Author. Dave has presented to more than 10,000 executives, managers and individuals from across the U.S. Some of his audiences include: SAIC, NASA, Dominion Power, Novo Nordisk, Military & Intelligence Community, Medical & Dental Community, Martial Arts Community, ManTech International, NTCA, EPA, ATPCO, National League of Cities, Project Management Institute and PA House of Representatives.
Dave Gerber has a proven track record converting his personal experience into conflict lessons that have been shared with employees of all kinds, at every level, in a coaching, training, speaking and consulting capacity. Dave is also the only speaker in the world that uses innovative, rarely seen, moving sand art! Audiences will love the experience and connection to the theme of the keynote or event. Most agree within the first three minutes that having Dave speak at their event was a great decision!
In addition to his organizational leadership and conflict management experience, Dave is a certified, Instructor-Level Black Belt in Krav Maga (self-defense), and has completed his Advanced Certification training in the art of Reiki, Japanese Energy Healing.
Dave is also a prolific author. A selection of his titles include:
- Use Conflict: Advance Your Winning Life
- Are You a King or Queen of Conflict…In Project Management?
- Roadmap to Success (with Deepak Chopra and Ken Blanchard)
- “On Fire Leadership® (other motivational quote books for martial artists and the military)
- I.F.E. Line Self-Defense® (Book Series for Kids and Women)