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In my interview with Anita Bruzzese at USA Today, she said “I think this book isn’t just for managers, but for anyone who deals with working relationships.” Read what she has to say about Conflict 101.
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Listen to interviews with Susan about the book:
AMACOM Publishers Edgewise: http://podcast.amanet.org/edgewise/management/285/susan-shearouse-on-the-upside-of-conflict/#more-285
The Cranky Middle Manager: http://cmm.thepodcastnetwork.com/2011/05/20/the-cranky-middle-manager-show-284-conflict-101-with-susan-shearouse/
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What Folks are saying on Amazon:
Susan is able to convey revolutionary ways of framing situations and understanding complex human situations in a simple, accessible way. Whether you are a manager of people, an employee with very few or a great many co-workers, or even an experienced practitioner in the field of resolving conflicts, you will be able to garner some pearl of wisdom or way of seeing things that you did not have before reading this book.
I am not quite certain what I had expected when I started reading this book. But I was very pleasantly surprised at the value of the content. The sub-title calls the book “A manager’s guide to resolving problems.” The primary focus is on conflicts at work and how managers can effectively deal with them. That really does a disservice to the book. Conflicts are not limited to the workplace and the methods to deal with conflicts work universally…Reading and applying the lessons in this book will definitely improve your managerial skills and your relationships. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to get along better with others and improve their influence.
Advance Praise for Conflict 101:
“Susan Shearouse’s magnificent Conflict 101 provides the essential tools for improving our working relationships. Her humor and wisdom make this book a powerful guide. A joy to read!”
— Robert Maurer, Ph.D., Faculty, UCLA and University of Washington Schools of
Medicine; author of One Small Step Can Change Your Life
“Workplace conflict is pervasive and effective skills to intervene are too often limited. This is an especially valuable resource for employees and supervisors facing the challenges of managing conflict. It is engagingly written, grounded with real experiences in the field.”
—Sandra I. Cheldelin, Vernon M. and Minnie I. Lynch Professor, Institute for
Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University
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You’ve got one coworker storming out of another’s office, two others who aren’t speaking to each other, people on the same work team expressing major differences on how to get a project done … and still others, in different departments, waging a silent battle over resources. With all this workplace conflict stewing, how, as a manager, can you ensure that any work is getting done?
Whenever human beings interact, it’s inevitable that conflict—when what one person wants, needs, or expects interferes with what others want, need, or expect—will bubble up to the surface … and no more so than at the office. Whatever the cause, it’s your job as a manager to ensure that these ripples of discord don’t lead to a lack of productivity, increased employee turnover and absenteeism, and other natural consequences of workplace friction.
Conflict 101 gives you the tools you need to navigate relationships, build compromises and collaborations, and not only get your people back on track, but channel the energy of disagreements into positive results.
You’ll discover practical, immediately usable ways to:
- Build trust among coworkers
- Harness negative emotions
- Encourage apologies and forgiveness
- Use a solution-seeking approach to resolving employee differences, and
- Say what needs to be said in situations involving interpersonal tension.
Whether it’s a disagreement about processes, factionalism over where money and staff will come from, or the byproduct of complicated relationships or differences stemming from values, it’s imperative that you stem the tide of conflict and keep your people focused.
