This talk is an emotional roller coaster!
Prepare to laugh, prepare to cry–and not because of Reg’s delivery style!
Being and feeling heard are key elements in farm family operations. This presentation is tailor-made designed to increase awareness about a topic that is largely misunderstood and missing from our educational system, yet essential to our success as human communities.
“Conflict is inevitable – suffering is optional.”
Farmers are people and people are creatures of habit, hardwired to take the shortest, easiest route to our destination. It is human nature to migrate toward comfort and familiarity. For most farmers those areas are production, husbandry, or operations – not dealing with conflict. Reg is always astounded by ranchers who pay significant sums of money to hear behavioral specialists talk about managing their cattle, yet be unwilling to spend $2.00 or two minutes learning how to communicate effectively with their spouses, family, and/or employees—especially when even practising the basics drastically reduces conflict and promotes family harmony!
This presentation is a cross section of Reg’s technical training as a Qualified Mediator. He understands that in order to develop our habits and behaviours, we must emotionally process new ideas and apply them to our own lives. By using real-life stories to illustrate communication tools and conflict-resolution techniques, Reg lets you benefit from his years of travel and experience in the field.
“The worst that can happen is nothing changes!”
Whether and how conflicts are resolved has an enormous impact on farm operations. Conflict has a long memory—unresolved issues and poor communication damage precious family and employee relationships and lead to financial loss. Reg explains the importance of dealing with conflicts in an up-front manner that gets the issues on the table and relieves pent-up stress.
Topics addressed include common challenges faced by farmers such as:
- how to deal with different communication styles and personalities
- how to handle emotion, including anger, in conflict situations.
- key skills for successful—clear, open, productive—communication
Some lessons apply to everyone—for example, a proper apology ends with a period. Other strategies are more or less useful according to your family’s particular dynamic and personalities. This presentation gives you all practical tools, while entertaining you with great stories that remind you that it’s not just you, all families have conflict. Set your farm family up for success by learning how to “Listen to Understand” and “Seek to be Understood”.