Through thousands of seemingly insignificant interactions, teams unknowingly create environments that are either cohesive or adversarial. Through the delivery of day-long, fast-paced seminars and “code of conduct” workshops, I work with companies and organizations to help them understand the how drama and conflict escalate and how to defuse these situations and correct course.
“I was so impressed with this seminar that I arranged for my entire leadership team to attend.”
– Heather Hunt, 911 Director, Minneapolis Department of Emergency Communications
“The best money we’ve ever spent.”
– Paul Jennings, Rolls Royce
“The feeling of relief at having peace restored was unexpected and wonderful.”
– Connie Menard, M.D., Texas Women’s University
“I’ve kept these materials in the top drawer of my desk for seven years and three promotions.”
– Graham Holden, CEO, Marshalls, UK
Thera-Rising International Workshops and Seminars
As well as consulting with family businesses and working with organizations to resolve conflict, Executive Confidante has teamed up with Thera-Rising International, founded by Anna Maravelas, Psychologist Emeritus and author of “Creating a Drama-Free Workplace.” Anna has been resolving workplace conflict for over 30 years, and has designed seminars and workshops that help improve cohesiveness and productivity at work. I now offer these workshops and seminars to help companies create the culture they want and deserve.
Drama-Free Work – 1-day seminar
Based on successfully resolving more than 300 workplace conflicts this powerful seminar is packed with insights into the universal behaviors that destroy cohesiveness and trust. Attendees learn to manage frustration and disagreement by talking to each other, rather than about each other. Attendees discover how to shift from blame to dialogue and problem resolution, grounded in mission.
Code of Conduct Workshop – Half-day
During Code of Conduct sessions, teams collectively raise their norms by applying the seminar’s insights directly to behaviors within the group. Much to the astonishment and delight of the team it is not uncommon for groups to reach agreement on 20-25 new behaviors or practices that they previously felt powerless to change. Applying skills from the seminar, teams self-assess and prioritizes barrier to cohesiveness and productivity. Small groups identify specific, concrete solutions which the large group modifies and adopts. This process gently nudges outliers toward healthier, more rewarding norms.
Attending the seminar, “Drama-Free Work,” is a pre-requisite to Code of Conduct sessions.
Conflict Resolution Between Individuals
Regardless if they are executive or front-line employees, escalated conflict between two people cannot be addressed effectively in groups. Consequently, I work privately with pairs that need focused attention. After preparing each person alone, we then create a series of specific agreements for future behaviors. Over the span of 30 years not one individual has broken a commitment to their covenant partner after completing this process.
Leadership Feedback and Coaching
In some settings, leadership behavior plays a critical role in recalibrating culture. Our process allows the recipient to acknowledge their feedback, set goals, and recruit their direct reports and colleagues as friendly-collaborators in the leader’s success!
At the onset, the leader and the facilitator determine the span and questions of the interviews. The facilitator interviews participants individually to ensure that feedback is confidential, constructive, specific and comprehensive. Answers are scrambled and all identifiers are removed. Using the themes of the data, the facilitator meets with the leader and together they turn the feedback into goals. However, within a few days of receipt, the leader shares his or her goals with their team and appropriate colleagues. For each objective the leader requests a change in the team’s behavior to support their success.