NW Collaborative
Futures Conference

Preparing for a Difficult Conversation

We believe that there are some often-overlooked preparation steps. You could think of these as pre-preparation steps because they entail actions you can take prior to focusing on the actual engagement and communication with the other party: 

Find your motivation
Build your power
Set it up well

By putting you in Zoom breakout room pairs or triads, and with specific instructions, we will provide you the opportunity to try out in real-time how to take these steps. We will also explain how we have been experimenting with our 8-step Difficult Conversation model to initiate culture change in organizations.

Speaker: Julie Menard, M. Ed., CertContRes, PCC
Mediator, On Conflict Leadership Institute

Julia is the co-founder of the On Conflict Leadership Institute along with colleague and fellow mediator Gordon White.  Julia specializes in supporting leaders to find the courage to engage in conflict and to collaborate constructively. Julia is a mediator, trainer, and has coached hundreds of leaders from various professions in more effective communication. She co-wrote a book with a therapist, entitled Hold On To Yourself, to help clients learn self-regulation in conflict. Julia’s been published in several magazines, and blogs at JuliaMenard.com. For fun, Julia plays the electric bass and aspires to play the upright one day.

Speaker: Gordon White, MBA
Mediator, On Conflict Leadership Institute

Gordon is the co-founder of the On Conflict Leadership Institute along with colleague and fellow mediator Julia Menard. He assists leaders to shift how they relate to their unique challenges in a way that drives more innovative and productive initiatives. Gordon teaches a graduate course on conflict management at Royal Roads University and he blogs at the The Conflict Journey where he provides depth perspectives and practical advice on effective conflict engagement. Gordon has a perennial interest in human capabilities and potentials. He finds profound meaning in relationship with the natural world.