A DILEMMA
Last spring when things were starting to open up in California, one of my clients had a dilemma.
Two of his key employees did not feel so keen or so safe coming back to work.
And the owners in the business, his parents, were impatient to reopen.
He couldn’t figure out what to do or say to bridge the conflict.
Make them come anyway?
Not his way.
Replace them?
They were too valuable.
So how could he get the employees to come back and feel safe?
Through coaching, he developed a new idea.
He decided the employees to be involved with setting up the protocols and guidelines for the business.
It turned from being a difficult conversation to being an empowering conversation.
Not only did he manage to get his employees back to work and appease the stressed owner/parents/, he engaged his team in a way that built collaboration, trust and leadership.
Where we perceive an impeding conflict there are often new opportunities for connection.
Ready to be able to recognize new possibilities?
Leah Zimmerman is an Intergenerational Resolving Conflict Expert and Family Business Advisor who makes hard conversations easy. She blends her background in education, theater, personal development and spirituality to create transformational conversations for individuals, teams and families. Find Leah on Linkedin at to learn more.