GL Ford Consulting

Successful people tent to believe they are successful becuase of 100% of what they do.  What’s closer to the truth is that the are successful due to 90% of what the do and in spite of 10% of what they do.  For personal growth, we sometimes need an objective mirror.  My public workshop on October 1st will help you with the following: Read Full Post

The American Management Association estimates that managers spend 25% of their time dealing with employee conflict.  Want some of that time back?  My public workshop on September 23rd will help you with the following: Read Full Post

Want to learn how keep co-workers from pushing your buttons?  Have an employee whose effectivess gets short-circuited at the first sign of conflict?  My public workshop on August 28th will help you with the following: Read Full Post

In June, Gary is working up and down the I5 Corridor.  He’s facilitating a public workshop on Building High Performance Teams in the Portland/Vancouver area.  A government agency has asked him to provide a keynote speech on holding Powerful Conversations in Difficult Situations in Olympia.  He’s teaching a class at Bellevue Community College on teambuilding.  He’s consulting with a marquis Seattle company on improving team dynamics with a VP and his four directors.  A month filled with interesting work for great clients.  :)

The phone rang and a manager I had previously worked with was on the line with a familiar dilemma.  “Hi Gary,” she said, “I’ve got a situation that I need your help with.  I have a brand new employee who is technically strong, but she’s not fitting in here.  Here’s what’s happening.  She dresses far too casually for this organization’s culture, and she frequently listens to her iPod so loud that she doesn’t hear her own phone ringing.  My director has noticed and he has instructed me to send an e-mail to the whole team reminding them of the importance of demonstrating professional behavior at all times.  He doesn’t want me to talk to her directly for fear of demotivating a new employee with expertise that we need.  What do you think I should do?” Read Full Post

Gary is spending April 24th at the top of Grouse Mountain north of Vancouver, British Columbia.  He’s a guest speaker at a leadership summit for Telus, the Canadian telecommunications giant. 

The first week in May, I’m the featured speaker for a best practices series targeted at small businesses in the Portland, OR/Vancouver, WA region. The title of the public workshop is Building High Performance Teams. Read Full Post

As an internal HR Manager, I mediated conflicts for 8 years, and as an employee, I witnessed workplace conflicts for 20 years.  I’ve been intrigued by the idea of how we trade power for sympathy when we’re mired in unresolved conflict.  Here’s an example of what I mean.  If I’m in conflict with a colleague, and I’m a human being, I’m more likely to talk to a third party before I address the conflict with my "adversary".  Why would I go to a third party?  Here are the four primary reasons I’ve found for this typical human response: To recruit the third party to "save" me from my workplace adversary. To recruit the third party to join my side against my adversary. To receive sympathy from the third party. Read Full Post

I’m excited to announce the launch of the new website for GLFord Consulting.  Along with the general overview of my services, I will also be using this space to post articles and news stories. The articles will reflect my ongoing experience and current thinking about: building high-performing teams, management/leadership development, and resolving workplace conflict   I’ll also be posting news stories relating to work I’m doing in the realm of training, offsite facilitation, and mediation.  Thanks for visiting the site!   Join my mailing list to receive updates on trends in human capital development.  Your contact information will never be shared without your consent.