LEAD Program

Kwame Christian: Finding Confidence in Conflict (Video)
Director of the American negotiation Institute, Kwame teaches us about an alternative way to resolve conflict. Kwame Christian is a business lawyer and the director of the American Negotiation Institute. In this role, he serves as a negotiation consultant for attorneys and for companies closing large business deals. He also conducts live training sessions for organizations. Kwame hosts the podcast “Negotiate Anything,” where he interviews successful professionals and shares powerful persuasion techniques. With over 140,000 downloads and listeners in 140 countries, it is the top-ranked negotiation and dispute-resolution podcast in the nation. Kwame is the proud husband of Dr. Whitney Christian and father of Kai Christian This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more about the TEDx Program.

Jonathan Marks: In Praise of Conflict (Video)
Conflict is bad; compromise, consensus and collaboration are good -- or so we're told. Lawyer and bioethicist Jonathan Marks challenges this conventional wisdom, showing how governments can jeopardize public health, human rights and the environment when they partner with industry. An important, timely reminder that common good and common ground are not the same thing.

Dorothy Walker: 3 Ways to Resolve a Conflict (Video)
Anybody can help resolve a conflict, says project manager Dorothy Walker. With three simple steps, she shares how you can use positive energy to solve conflicts between friends, coworkers, strangers, kids and beyond.

Dorothy Walker, PMP, is a certified Project Manager at Wells Fargo as well as mediator and facilitator. She is an advocate of conflict resolution and believes that everyone is capable of using positive energy to face challenges and resolve disputes in a more collaborative environment. Walker received her PhD in 2015, writing her dissertation on the effects of energy transference on interpersonal conflicts. She is also a painter, writer and poet, and is currently working with her husband on a book about relationships.

Cole Blakeway: We Are All Different - and THAT'S AWESOME! (Video)
What is it that makes you different? What makes you jump out of bed? Cole Blakeway, a messy ten year old teaches us the value of celebrating differences as he describes his beautiful friendship with Steven, a 44 year old man with Autism. In a world that gravitates to being the same, Cole Blakeway reminds us that we are all different and that's awesome.

Meagan Pollock, PhD: How to Become an Inclusive Leader (Video)
Belonging and being valued are fundamental human needs. Inclusive leadership helps address these two crucial needs and enhances performance, collaboration, attendance, and reduces turnover. This life skill is helpful for everyone, yet it is imperative to create cultures, schools, teams, and organizations that drive equitable outcomes

Janet Stovall: How to Get Serious About Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace (Video)
Imagine a workplace where people of all colors and races are able to climb every rung of the corporate ladder -- and where the lessons we learn about diversity at work actually transform the things we do, think and say outside the office. How do we get there?

Mariano Sigman and Dan Ariely: How Can Groups Make Good Decisions? (Video)
We all know that when we make decisions in groups, they don't always go right -- and sometimes they go very wrong. How can groups make good decisions? With his colleague Dan Ariely, neuroscientist Mariano Sigman has been inquiring into how we interact to reach decisions by performing experiments with live crowds around the world.

Jim Tamm: First step to collaboration? Don't be so defensive! (Video)
Jim Tamm is a former law professor and senior administrative law judge for the state of California. He mediated nearly 2,000 employment disputes and handed down legal decisions that impacted national labor policy.