MEDIATION IS LIKE MAKING COMPOST
Finding Insights in the Garden: Lessons from Mediation Before convening a formal mediation meeting, I always have several private conversations with each party. This approach allows me to delve deeper into their perspectives and uncover the underlying issues. I ask questions that provoke introspection: Did the other person make you feel demeaned? What was […]
What is Mothers’ Day to me?
Ouma van Wyk – Ma – Ouma du Toit. I never aspired to be a mother. To me what was normal was this: Girls grow up, they start dating, they meet a guy, they fall in love, they get married, they have babies. My life started before The Pill and abortions were unheard […]
CUTTING BACK ON BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS GOALS
<1211 words> Ambition Many years ago, when I was working with my first ever coaching client, I saw in real life the power of sensible vs. audacious goal setting. The client was the plant manager in a manufacturing concern, part of a global conglomerate. He was thrilled at his recent promotion – a skilled and experienced […]
When Faltering Happens
<1312 words> Faltering can happen any time, no matter how well prepared you are and how experienced and skilled and everything. No doubt faltering has many causes but to my mind, when emotions simply will not remain in the back row of a command performance, the prospects of faltering happening significantly increases. “I was struck with […]
Like a River Flows
<1230 words> They say that our thoughts naturally turn to contemplation of the future when we watch water in motion. When I was about to turn 60, my brother, Guillaume, died of a glioblastoma multiforme brain tumour and I came across ‘The Waterfall’ by Zen philosopher Shunryu Suzuki. It is his reflection on life, upon a […]
Syrian Refugees: Who Helps the Helpers?
<1160 words> The harsh truth about helping Canada’s Syrian refugees is with us now. The state of their kids’ teeth, our inability to communicate in Arabic, and all that. I’m sure there are many misunderstandings that have the potential to gnaw at the goodwill cloud that swept the Canadian nation when first our new PM […]
“The Answer to the Problem is Here, Inside You.”
<484 words> The other day I saw a wedding video on Facebook. A group of men performed the great and terrifying Maori haka with words especially written for the occasion. Millions have watched the video. Some people felt that the haka was threatening and/or insulting, but no, it is a great sign of respect, according to NewZealand.com […]
Working at a Rogers Call Centre Pays Off
Rogers, one of Canada’s major cell phone service providers recently won a prestigious award for the way it used coaching of call centre employees to improve customer satisfaction and revenue in-flow.
It looks like a game-changer.
Love and introspection shifts a world
Sometimes when you’re engaged in a quarrel with someone the things takes on a momentum of its own…..The person who blinked first was hurt and puzzled….it became imperative that a peace be brokered in a family that felt like it was falling apart, before it was too late.
The answer is in the room.
Who is the expert? There is sound theory on how adults prefer to learn, and there is sound theory on how individuals have their own learning styles. The true expertise lies in knowing how to facilitate a learning conversation, not in having the one definitive answer.