1143 – Empathy-Based Conflict Resolution Skills with E-Mediation Services’ Christy Foley

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to the founder of E-Mediation Services, Christy Foley. 

E-Mediation Services not only provides virtual conferencing mediation services for parties in legal disputes, but they also provide corporate training on conflict resolution, emotional intelligence, and more.  

Christy shares that the corporate training her company offers helps their clients resolve conflicts in the workplace. Workplace disputes are a very fast way for a company to lose revenue, she explains. Christy wants to help people resolve serious issues, not only from the legal standpoint, but from an emotional perspective. The people left in the workforce feel overworked and burned out. Christy works with new leaders to help them navigate workplace conflict and stressors. What she teaches brings peace to the people she works with and shares that she has a lot of fun doing that. 

Christy and Josh explore how she teaches emotional intelligence skills and techniques. It all depends on what the company needs, but generally she helps them build leadership skills within their teams. 

Christy has been mediating since 2009 and shares an anecdote about how she regained control in a high stress mediation. She explained that you have to retain control even during chaos and maintain your composure, especially as a leader. These are the types of skills she teaches to her clients. 

Small businesses tend to have external disputes, Christy explains. In other words, most disputes will occur between the team and clients. Customer service training should include emotional intelligence training for this reason, she says. 

Josh explores the impact of acknowledging emotions before addressing business issues. Sometimes, acknowledging the other party’s emotions is the right play. It’s an important piece of conflict resolution but doesn’t often occur enough. Christy shares that you should reframe issues to those you’re trying to resolve conflict with. At the end of a good reframe statement, you should always be asking someone if you understood their concerns correctly.  

Empathy is priceless, Christy says. It’s the most important part of conflict resolution and often solves the problem more often than trying to use “sympathy”. She also shares some ways to prevent workplace conflict. For one, if you’re starting a new business, listen actively to whoever you interact with. Reframe what they say and listen critically. Next, be transparent. Explain why you need what you need. 

Christy and her work are industry agnostic. As she explains, conflict can happen anywhere and in any stage of business growth. She’s worked in the retail landscape, city planning industry, healthcare, and more. 

Want to learn more? Check out E-Mediation Services’ website at https://emediationservices.com/. 

Check out Christy’s website at https://christytalks.com/. 

Check out Christy Foley on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/christyfoleyesq/. 

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