Author: Michelle Jones (Page 1 of 52)

Leading through tension is part of being a manager, but you don’t have to go into emotionally charged meetings unprepared. Here’s how to stay grounded and guide high-stakes conversations with clarity and composure.

Visualize the meeting in advance. Picture the setting, the people involved, and how you want to feel walking out. Mentally rehearse how you’ll open the discussion, handle tension, and steer toward resolution. Anticipate challenges and plan calm, confident responses.

Reframe your mindset. Focus on the positives. Before the meeting, reflect on what you appreciate about the individuals involved or what good outcomes could come from the conversation. This small shift builds emotional resilience and helps you approach the interaction with empathy and clarity.

Adjust the setup. Use the “Five W’s”—who, what, where, when, and why—to fine-tune the logistics. Who needs to be there? Should you bring in resources to support the conversation? What needs to be shared and what doesn’t? Where should the meeting take place, and what is the optimal time? Finally, why is this discussion important?

Build in buffer time. Give yourself 10 minutes before the meeting to get focused and 10 minutes after to reset. A short walk or quiet moment can help you stay composed and avoid carrying stress into your next interaction.

Another smart move is to beef up your Emotional intelligence to navigate these scenarios. Emotional Intelligence in the workplace is critical to mastering interpersonal skills, crucial for conflict management and effective communication. It involves understanding and regulating emotions to make thoughtful, objective decisions.

Emotional intelligence can greatly impact the success and productivity of a team. Here are 8 questions to help teammates process their emotions and refocus on work:

Not every emotionally charged moment comes with a warning, some take you by surprise. But when you do see one ahead, effective preparation makes all the difference. By visualizing success, focusing on the positives, deliberately modifying the situation, and building in buffer zones, you will navigate fraught meetings more confidently and successfully. Leadership will always involve some intense interactions, but with the right strategies, you can turn them into defining moments that drive real progress.

References:
HBR (2025, April 2) Dina Denham Smith: How to Prepare for a Meeting Where Emotions Will Run High
Cloverleaf (2023, February 3) Peggy Murriner: Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace: A Guide for Leaders

Workplace adaptability is the ability to respond effectively to different scenarios and challenges within the workplace. Adaptable employees are not frazzled when a campaign that works brilliantly one day totally flops the next, or the colleague they’ve always relied on is suddenly out on leave.

However, it’s not as simple as just being more flexible. Adaptability, in both life and work, means you are able to weather changes in your environment without experiencing debilitating amounts of stress, anxiety, frustration, or confusion.  Adaptable people develop targeted skill sets, processes, and frameworks that allow them to quickly and efficiently deal with different situations as they arise. As you develop this skill set, you’ll be able to face any change that comes your way.

It’s worth noting that adaptability doesn’t come easy to most people, because change is naturally uncertain, and uncertainty breeds anxiety and stress. Even those who are supremely adaptable to change will feel these emotions when something unexpected happens. The difference is that they won’t let these emotions overtake them and prevent them from forging ahead in the face of change.

An organization’s ability to adapt can be considered a competitive advantage. The same is true for individuals: Employers increasingly want workers who can adapt to an ever-changing workplace. Someone who’s adaptable is open to new ideas and doesn’t need to do things a specific way just because that’s how they’ve always been done. They can anticipate changes and don’t panic when things don’t go according to plan.

So, why is adaptability important?

Promotes resilience. Bad things happen to all of us. But if you’re adaptable, you take adversity in stride, never letting it destroy you. Instead, you adjust your thoughts and expectations to suit your new reality rather than dwelling on what could have been. Being adaptable means being resilient, and resilience will get you far in life. Challenges won’t seem all that challenging when you’ve built a tolerance for accommodating changing circumstances.

Helps you to handle career transitions better. When you’re adaptable, you’ll learn how to manage and lessen the stress resulting from a career change. You’ll stop putting off whatever you need to do to set yourself up for future success. People who are adaptable are more willing to explore outside their comfort zone, take risks and embrace uncertainty, with the understanding that transitions are a normal part of life.

It’s effective in sidestepping office politics. Adaptable individuals deal with office politics the same way they deal with change: by focusing on facts and work-related outcomes rather than personal disagreements or power plays. This approach not only preserves professional relationships but also keeps you focused on what matters: Doing your job, getting paid, and going home.

Improves company culture. Workplaces that teach and promote adaptability inspire their workforces to grow mentally and emotionally. Teams that adapt well to change can improve collaboration, communication and the overall daily working environment.

Enhances efficiency and improves work-life balance. When you’re adaptable, you’re more willing to adopt new technologies, processes, or strategies that streamline tasks and reduce unnecessary labor. This not only increases productivity but also frees up your time, allowing for a better work-life balance.

If you want to become more adaptable in the workplace or have been told you need to be more flexible, realize that the above benefits are well within your reach, but they may take a little practice. Here are some tips to get you there.

• Challenge your brain.
• Be a leader.
• Ask for help.
• Don’t be afraid of growth.
• Don’t be close-minded.
• Don’t let your ego get in the way.
• Don’t get stuck in your comfort zone.

When you’re adaptable, anxiety about your future is diminished. When you anticipate changes and adjust your attitude and expectations, changes don’t need to disorient you; they become just another expected part of life.

References:
Asana (2024, June 21) Alicia Raeburn: 6 Ways to Develop Adaptability in the Workplace and Embrace Change.
Business.com (2024, August 29) Julie Thompson: How Well Do You Handle Change? The Benefits of Being Adaptable.
The Vector Impact (2024, May 4) Liam Carnahan: Why Adapting to Change is a Workplace Superpower.

Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us. Whenever you bring awareness to what you’re directly experiencing via your senses, or to your state of mind via your thoughts and emotions, you’re being mindful. And there’s growing research showing that when you train your brain to be mindful, you’re actually remodeling the physical structure of your brain.

How could simply tuning into your thoughts and feelings lead to so many positive outcomes throughout the body? Researchers believe the benefits of mindfulness are related to its ability to dial down the body’s response to stress. Chronic stress can impair the body’s immune system and make many other health problems worse. By lowering the stress response, mindfulness may have downstream effects throughout the body.

Stress reduction is often an effect of mindfulness practice, but the ultimate goal isn’t meant to be stress reduction. The goal of mindfulness is to wake up to the inner workings of our mental, emotional, and physical processes. As you spend time practicing mindfulness, you’ll probably find yourself feeling kinder, calmer, and more patient. These shifts in your experience are likely to generate changes in other parts of your life as well.

• Mindfulness trains your body to thrive.
• Mindfulness boosts creativity.
• Mindfulness strengthens neural connections.

It can take a little while for mindfulness meditation to feel natural and to become a part of your regular routine. But with practice, you may discover a powerful tool for relieving stress and improving well-being.

Ready to give it a try? Learning mindfulness is easier than ever. LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke’s employee wellness program, offers several opportunities to practice mindfulness each month. Take advantage of these opportunities to flex and strengthen your mindfulness muscles.

Mindful Moment – Every Tuesday at 2 p.m., take a moment to relax, recharge, and re-center yourself with Mindful Moment, a group mindfulness program offered by LIVE FOR LIFE. During these quick, 15-minute sessions, you’ll learn and practice simple breathing and mindfulness techniques that can reduce stress, increase self-awareness, improve concentration, and promote overall well-being. Drop in and reframe your day with calm and clarity.

Mindful Movement – Every Thursday at 10 a.m., add some movement to your mindfulness practice with Mindful Movement. The 15-minute Zoom sessions will combine movement, breathwork, visualization and intention to create a moving meditation practice that enhances relaxation and improves well-being. Drop in for an enhanced mindfulness experience through a focus on mobilization.

References:
American Psychological Association (2019, October 30): Mindfulness Meditation
Mindful.org (2021): Getting Started with Mindfulness