In this blog, Pete talks about humility, the affect this can have on employees and the huge impact it has in a leader's reputation.

Pete describes how, as a mediator, he sees it all the time - managers who have made a wrong judgement call, or have acted inappropriately - and although they know they have they still pretend they haven't. People aren't stupid and it's one way to guarantee a disengaged and demotivated team.

In mediation we have proper conversations, and here I give a few examples of when these have turned issues around - just by leaders showing a bit of humility.

Our Director Pete Colby is the guest of yet another podcast - this time he is interviewed by Darren Jones of Instinct HR. It's definitely worth a listen!

Even really serious accusations such as discrimination claims can be dealt with informally without jumping straight into grievances or disciplinaries. Formal process where people make statements about one another, trying to prove to someone that they're right and the other is wrong, rarely deal with the crux of the issue.

Here I contextualise how what often seems complex and highly emotive, can usually be sorted out by good old-fashioned conversations, especially when they happen at the earliest opportunity.

What do you do when your manager doesn't allow you to apply for a promotion? 

This case was an example of a relatively common theme in mediations - equal opportunities and being considered for vacancies that arise. This case dispute was fairly typical and, as in the vast majority of cases, the time spent in grievances and the stress caused could have easily been avoided.

In today's "mediation of the week" our Director and Lead Mediator Pete Colby recalls a case where both parties (two senior managers) had fallen out regarding allegations of criticism of leadership. The feud between the two managers had been going on for over two years before the organisation embarked on mediation as a last resort.