Guest Speaker: Michael Lang

Excellence: Practice (Alone) does not Make Perfect

When addressing conflict, we want to feel competent and helpful. Most of us believe that through experience, we will gain the resources, knowledge, and tools to be skillful and effective. We want to do our best.

Excellence in conflict competency does not require perfection, but it does require more than mere practice. It involves looking introspectively, learning from errors, and listening to others. By discussing the following, this session will offer a foundation to become conflict competent:

What is Reflective Practice, and why might it be important for me?

• How do I know I am doing the best I can?
• The use of reflective practice groups to learn from difficult or unsettling practice experiences or from surprising successes.
• The powerful effect of a non-judgmental process (Reflective Debrief) for learning from practice situations.

In real time, the speaker will demonstrate how reflective conversations can help you deal with challenging circumstances, troubling 'afterthoughts', and puzzling or disturbing reactions.