News

By Mauricio Velásquez

Expert Forum Contributor

I have always specialized in hostile or militant audiences but from time to time even I have to step back and pause for a second. Current events are always “fair game” in my workshops; it is what makes my sessions current, electric and never boring. Recent moments of truth in my sessions lead me to pen an update to the original article I wrote many years ago. The recent rash of horrible racial injustices (some say pattern) of Ahmaud Arbery to Breonna Taylor to George Floyd to Amy Cooper has erupted into a national conversation about racial injustice, white privilege, inequity, diversity, inclusion, and more.

By William Shackelford

Expert Forum Contributor

In 1968 when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated I was a college student in Atlanta Georgia and immediately thrusted into the middle of the movement that would change the nation. We had great leaders in the Black community in Atlanta – and in the nation – who helped us understand, process and react to the events around us. In 1992 riots broke out in America after the acquittal of the four police officers involved in the beating of Rodney King. My three kids were all teenagers at the time, and we talked with them to help them understand, process and react to the events around them. Unfortunately, we are here again in a confusing and terrible time of racial strife in America.

By Simma Lieberman

Expert Forum Contributor

We are in the midst of a disruptive crisis no matter how “positive thinking police” try to spin it. As the Covid-19 quarantine continues with people working from home, with little or no social interaction, some of your team members may start experiencing a deeper level of anxiety. No one knows when or how it will end or what the “new normal” will look like. That anxiety due to seemingly uncertain futures and not knowing how or when the crisis will end, can cause some people to panic, lose focus about their work and disengage from the team.

By Robert Wendover

Expert Forum Contributor

The past two months have been chaotic, to say the least. We have been ripped from our routines, sent home, and told to stay off the streets until further notice. Millions have had their incomes disrupted and their daily concentration destroyed by the ongoing uncertainty. And now, after weeks of this turbulence, we will be asked to return to 

the previous routine, albeit with some significant changes.

By Steve Hanamura

Expert Forum Contributor

Shortly after I moved to Portland in 1980 a colleague, knowing my background with high school and college choirs, invited me to join the Choral Arts Ensemble, a forty-voice group that primarily sang classical music. Oddly enough we were invited to sing back up on a number with singer/songwriter Barry Manilow during his concert here in town. When we showed up for rehearsal the producer took one look at me and walked over to our director and said, "He can't sing."   

By Simma Lieberman

Expert Forum Contributor

I’ve been facilitating cross-generational dialogues for over ten years. I started them because I was tired of one-dimensional conversations filled with bias and wrong assumptions about people who were older or younger. After the first three sessions, it was clear to me that we have a lot to learn from each other. Cross-generational mentoring became an integral part of my inclusive leadership coaching process