Dr. Kimalee Dickerson, Assistant Professor of Public Leadership
UNC School of Government

Navigating Difficult Conversations

Dr. Dickerson will lead a workshop on navigating difficult conversations – a core leadership skill. Healthy conflict gives us an opportunity to express our ideas and learn more about others’ perspectives so we can come up with solutions that last. Working through conflict can make us stronger, more resilient, and more accepting. This workshop will help you find the opportunities for personal and professional growth presented by conflict.

THE ART OF FIGHTING

In The Art of Fighting, Priya Parker explains that we can’t form and grow effective relationships without a fight. She rejects the idea that conflict is abnormal or that good groups don’t fight. All groups change and evolve; indeed, it’s because people disagree that good groups flourish.

As she did in the now-classic The Art of Gathering, Parker draws on her far-reaching experience as a conflict facilitator, her own detailed research, and real-world examples to lay out the ways that people can identify disputes, determine how to address them, and what to do if they are insurmountable. Whether people disagree in the boardroom or the locker room, on a playground or in church, online or in person, conflict is a part of life, and understanding healthy conflict and how to harness its power is more important than ever. The Art of Fighting is a vital primer to help all of us understand how to do that.