Resources

BIFF: Quick Responses to High-Conflict People, Their Personal Attacks, Hostile Email and Social Media Meltdowns. Eddy, William A. BookBaby, 2014.

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes Are High. Patterson, Kerry, et al. McGraw-Hill, 2012.

Difficult Conversations How to Discuss What Matters Most. Stone, Douglas, et al. Portfolio Penguin, 2011.

Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More than IQ. Goleman, Daniel. Bantam Books, 2006.

Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting through to Absolutely Anyone. Goulston, Mark. AMACOM, 2015.

Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life. Rosenberg, Marshall B. PuddleDancer Press, 2015.

Perfect Phrases for Dealing with Difficult People. Benjamin, Susan. McGraw-Hill, 2008.

Talking to Crazy: How to Deal with the Irrational and Impossible People in Your Life. Goulston, Mark. AMACOM, a Division of American Management Association, 2018.

The Let Them Theory. Robbins, Mel, and Sawyer Robbins. Hay House, 2024.

Verbal Judo: the Gentle Art of Persuasion. Thompson, George J., and Jerry B. Jenkins. William Morrow, 2013.

Words That Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear. Luntz, Frank I. Hachette Books, 2015.

Academic Administrators Guide to Conflict Resolution. Cheldelin, Sandra I., and Ann F. Lucas. Jossey-Bass, 2004.

Beyond Reason: Using Emotions as You Negotiate. Fisher, Roger, and Daniel Shapiro. Viking, 2005.

Choosing Civility: the Twenty-Five Rules of Considerate Conduct. Forni, Pier Massimo. St. Martins, 2003.

Dignity: Its Essential Role in Resolving Conflict. Hicks, Donna. Yale University Press, 2013.

Getting Past No: Negotiating in Difficult Situations. Ury, William. Bantam Books,

Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement without Giving In. Fisher, Roger, et al. Random House, 2012.

Good for You, Great for Me: Finding the Trading Zone and Winning at Win-Win Negotiation. Susskind, Lawrence. PublicAffairs, 2014.

International Conflict Management. Butler, Michael. Routledge, 2009.

Making Conflict Work: Harnessing the Power of Disagreement. Coleman, Peter T., and Robert Ferguson. Mariner Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015.

Mastering Civility: a Manifesto for the Workplace. Porath, Christine. Grand Central Publishing, 2016.

Negotiating the Impossible: How to Break Deadlocks and Resolve Ugly Conflicts (without Money or Muscle). Malhotra, Deepak. BK/Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2016.

Star Wars and Conflict Resolution: There Are Alternatives to Fighting. Ebner, Noam and Jen Reynolds. DRI Press, 2022.

The Big Book of Conflict Resolution Games: Quick, Effective Activities to Improve Communication, Trust, and Collaboration. Scannell, Mary. McGraw-Hill, 2010.

The Conflict Paradox: Seven Dilemmas at the Core of Disputes. Mayer, Bernard S. Jossey-Bass, 2015.

The Conflict Resolution Toolbox: A Field Guide to Analyzing, Diagnosing, and Resolving Conflict. Furlong, Gary T. J. Wiley & Sons Canada, 2005.

The Dynamics of Conflict: A Guide to Engagement and Intervention. Mayer, Bernard. Jossey-Bass, 2012.

The Power of a Positive No: How to Say No and Still Get to Yes. Ury, William. Bantam Books, 2008.

The Power of Nice: How to Negotiate So Everyone Wins — Especially You! Shapiro, Ronald M., and James Dale. Wiley, 2015.

Beyond Bullsh*t: Straight-Talk at Work. Culbert, Samuel A. Stanford University Press, 2010.

Can We Talk?: Seven Principles for Managing Difficult Conversations at Work. Matuson, Roberta Chinsky. Kagan Page, 2021.

Crucial Accountability: Tools for Resolving Violated Expectations, Broken Commitments, and Bad Behavior. Patterson, Kerry. McGraw-Hill Education, 2013.

Getting Things Done: the Art of Stress-Free Productivity. Allen, David. Piatkus, 2019.

How Did That Happen?: Holding People Accountable for Results the Positive, Principled Way. Connors, Roger, and Tom Smith. Portfolio, 2011.

Jerks at Work: Toxic Coworkers and What to do About Them. West, Tessa. Portfolio, 2022.

Made to Stick.: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. Heath, Chip, and Dan Heath. Random House, 2010.

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard. Random House, 2013.

Taming the Abrasive Manager: How to End Unnecessary Roughness in the Workplace. Crawshaw, Laura. Jossey-Bass, 2007.

Thanks for the Feedback: the Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well. Stone, Douglas, and Sheila Heen.  Portfolio Penguin, 2015.

The Bully at Work What You Can Do to Stop the Hurt and Reclaim Your Dignity on the Job. Namie, Gary, and Ruth F. Namie. Sourcebooks, 2009.

The College Administrator’s Survival Guide. Gunsalus, C.K. Harvard University Press, 2006.

The Cost of Bad Behavior: How Incivility Is Damaging Your Business and What to Do about It. Pearson, Christine M., and Christine Lynne. Porath. Portfolio, 2009.

The Good, the Bad & the Difference: How to Tell Right from Wrong in Everyday Situations. Cohen, Randy. Broadway Books, 2003.

The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t. Sutton, Robert I. Business Plus, 2010.

Turn Enemies into Allies: the Art of Peace in the Workplace: Conflict Resolution for Leaders, Managers, and Anyone Stuck in the Middle. Ringer, Judy. Career Press, 2019.

Who Moved My Cheese?: An A-Mazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life. Johnson, Spencer. G.P. Putnam, 2002.

Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity. Scott, Kim. St. Martin’s Press, 2019.

A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix. Friedman, Edwin H. Church, 1999, 2007, 2017.

Find, Fix, Fill Your Leadership Gap: what you need to know, and no one is telling you. Gottlieb-Clark, Candice. DTS Publishing, 2022.

Positively Energizing Leadership: Virtuous Actions and Relationships That Create High Performance. Cameron, Kim. Berret-Koehler, 2021.

The Leader Lab: Core Skills to Become a Great Manager, Faster. Luna, Tania and LeeAnn Renniger. Wiley, 2021.

Conflict 

• An Exercise to Help Your Team Feel More Comfortable with Conflict
• A Better Way to Manage Conflicts in the Workplace

Difficult Conversations

• How to Have Difficult Conversations
• How to Have Difficult Conversations at Work
• How to Have Difficult Conversations Virtually
• How to Tell Your Team that Organizational Change is Coming
• How to Effectively Confront a Workplace Bully

Wellbeing

• To Be Happier at Work, Invest More in Your Relationships

Authorship

• Authorship Decision Making: An Empirical Investigation

Communication

• Fisher, J. (Host). (2025, March 4). This Changes Everything About Conflict: Mel Robbins – How to Handle Difficult People with the Let Them Theory (Episode 267) [Audio Podcast episode]. In The Jefferson Fisher Podcast. Jefferson Fisher.

Empathy

• Simon, T. (Host). (2024, April 16). Judith Orloff: The Healing Power of Empathy [Audio podcast episode]. In Insights at the Edge. Sounds True.
• Joynt, S. and A. Levine (Hosts). (2024, April 18). The Genius of Empathy with Judith Orloff (Episode 303) [Audio podcast episode]. In Dear Shandy. Dear Shady.

Adam Grant, https://adamgrant.net/podcasts/ 

• Work Life
• ReThinking

Brene Brown, https://brenebrown.com/podcasts/ 

• Dare to Lead
• Unlocking Us

Who Are Ombuds?

A video produced to explain our profession and inspire more people to explore how an ombuds can help their organization reach its full potential. Watch Video

Conversation Tips

• 10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation with Celeste Headlee
  When your job hinges on how well you talk to people, you learn a lot about how to have conversations — and that most of us don’t converse very well. Watch Video

Blame

Inspirational thinker Brené Brown considers why we blame others, how it sabotages our relationships, and why we desperately need to move beyond this toxic behavior. Watch Video

Vulnerability

Brené Brown studies human connection and our ability to empathize, belong, love. In a poignant, funny talk, she shares a deep insight from her research, one that sent her on a personal quest to know herself as well as to understand humanity. A talk to share. Watch Video

Ted Talks

• Conflict as a Place of Possibility. (Dana Caspersen)
• Dare to Disagree. (Margaret Heffernan)
• How to Build (and Rebuild) Trust. (Frances Frei)
• The Power of Listening. (William Ury)
• Why There’s So Much Conflict at Work and What You Can Do to Fix It. (Liz Lislik)

Simon Sinek

• Try THIS the Next Time You Have an Uncomfortable Conversation. (Simon Sinek)
• Giving Critical Feedback. (Simon Sinek)
• Addressing Conflict with Care: Approaches to Workplace Negativity. (Simon Sinek)

Workplace

• The Dos and Don’ts of Workplace Conflict. (Galen Emanuele)