Why Does the Energy You Carry Matter? Because the space we hold for other people depends on the space we hold for ourselves. Because how you are feeling is the energy you give off – no matter how well you think you’re hiding it. And the most important part: what we get back is often the result of the energy we’re putting out.

Mediation is a confidential, voluntary process where a neutral third party (the mediator) helps people in conflict have the conversation they have been avoiding and reach an agreement they both choose. The mediator does not decide anything. The mediator does not take sides. The mediator does not give legal advice or tell anyone what to do. What the mediator does is create the conditions where people can hear each other, understand what is actually at stake, and find a path fo

Most of us have worked for someone whose behavior made our days harder than they needed to be. The leader who humiliates in meetings. The one whose anger seems to arrive before the facts do. The boss whose team tiptoes through every interaction because no one knows which version will show up that day.

A few weeks ago I spoke to AARP for a piece: "How to Cope When You Are Caregiving for Someone You (Really!) Don’t Get Along With," by Bruce Horovitz. That piece is worth reading if you are in a particularly hard situation. What I want to offer here is broader: practical tips and tools for any caregiving relationship, end of life, and especially for the challenges that come with it.

Most people have never heard the term conflict coaching until they need it. And by then, they're often searching for something else: "how to prepare for a hard conversation," "how to talk to my sister about Mom's care," "how to give feedback without making things worse." Conflict coaching is the thing they're actually looking for, but the name hasn't caught on the way therapy or executive coaching has.

Three tools for hard conversations and group dialogue, from an hour of live dialogue on Cards on the Table: when to use a town hall versus a facilitated dialogue, how to handle anger as information instead of attack, and the single best question to ask before responding to someone who's struggling. The full webinar recording is now on YouTube, and these are the tools participants said they'd use first.

In my recent conversation with Dr. Lee Sharma on her podcast Scalpel and Sword: Conflict and Negotiation in Modern Medicine, we talked about something most healthcare leaders know but rarely name: unresolved conflict is quietly burning out staff, damaging teams, and harming patient outcomes

Labels have always terrified me. Not the words themselves, but what comes with them: the fear of being mis-seen. Of having someone look at me and see the label instead of me. Of being reduced to a word I never fully agreed to.

U.S. companies spend more than $160 billion a year on leadership development. The global number exceeds $366 billion. That buys a lot of workshops, executive retreats, and 360-degree assessments. And yet, Development Dimensions International's (DDI) 2024 assessment of more than 70,000 manager candidates found that 49 percent cannot demonstrate effective conflict management skills. Only 12 percent showed high proficiency. That's not a "people problem." That's a skills gap on a

When Overtime Becomes a Conflict: What Healthcare Practice Managers Need to KnowI was recently interviewed by Cathy Cassata for Medical Assisting Today on a topic that comes up constantly in my work with healthcare teams: overtime. Specifically, the tensions that build when staff feel overworked, undervalued, or caught in systems that aren't working for anyone.

Research shows email tone is misread nearly half the time. Kimberly Best of Best Conflict Solutions, based in St. Louis and working nationwide, explores 20 years of studies on how text, email, phone, and face-to-face communication affect workplace conflict and relationships.

A new Pew Research Center study released just yesterday confirms what many of us feel in our bones. The United States is first country - out of 25 surveyed across the globe - where the majority of adults view their fellow citizens as morally bad.

We are living in dizzying times. Things are moving so fast, and so much has become possible, that I find myself witnessing developments I never would have dreamed of in my lifetime. The events of everyday feel so surreal. Fast, surreal, mind-boggling, dangerous. This is the moment everyone has been warning about with artificial intelligence. Not someday. Not hypothetically. This week.

This June, I’ll be in Orlando leading a 4-hour pre-conference workshop at the SHRM Annual Conference, the largest gathering of HR professionals in the world. (Oprah’s keynoting this year, and I’m excited!) My session is called “From Fixer to Facilitator: Mediation Skills Every HR Professional Can Use.” And the title says everything about why I proposed it.

When a team is struggling, the first instinct is usually to figure out who the problem is. Team coaching addresses those gaps directly. Instead of pulling individuals aside for private conversations about their behavior, team coaching treats the group itself as the client. It focuses on the spaces between people, where conflicting priorities collide, where unspoken frustrations build, and where talented professionals somehow become less effective together than they are apart.

Conflict resolution strategies that actually work. Kimberly Best of Best Conflict Solutions in St. Louis shares practical approaches for families, teams, and leaders. Conflict resolution strategies are learnable skills, not innate traits that some people have and others don't. With the right tools and understanding, you can transform disagreements into opportunities for growth, understanding, and stronger relationships.

Conflict is part of every workplace and every life. Yet most of us were never taught how to navigate it well. Conflict handling feels overwhelming for a reason: it goes against our biology, and the way most of us were raised didn't help.

A conflict management class is more than a quick fix. It's a practical, learnable skill set that transforms how you communicate, collaborate, and solve problems—at work, at home, or in your community. In this guide, you'll discover why conflict management matters in 2026, what you gain from a conflict management class, who benefits, which formats fit your needs, and how to choose the right course.

Imagine resolving your toughest disputes in just days, not years, without the overwhelming stress, high costs, or the public exposure of a courtroom. Welcome to a world where mediation in conflict resolution empowers you to find solutions that truly work for everyone involved. You will discover how mediation saves time and money, preserves relationships, and offers creative outcomes courts simply cannot provide.

Two things most people avoid talking about are dying and conflict, yet avoiding one makes the other even harder. When families sidestep these tough topics, it often leads to confusion, fractured relationships, and guilt that lingers for years. This end of life decision making guide empowers you to have compassionate, informed conversations that protect dignity, honor wishes, and reduce family conflict.