ABOUT THE BOOK

Conflict is inevitable, but we don’t always have the skills to handle it effectively. A minor disagreement can escalate into a feeling of personal attack. Our bodies even register it as a threat: our pulse quickens, our thinking narrows, and everything we thought we knew about staying calm disappears. Hijacked by our nervous system, we operate from a place of fear or reactivity. Instead of avoiding conflict—or succumbing to it—what if we could harness its positive potential?

​

In Conflict Competency: Eight Skills Leading to Better Outcomes, author Ken Chalmers shares how to reframe conflict from a problem to an opportunity. Based on his decades of experience as a lawyer, executive, consultant, and conflict-resolution educator, Ken combines real-world knowledge with extensive research in psychology, negotiation, leadership, and systems thinking. The result: a practical framework of core conflict competencies. These will help readers slow down reactive patterns, understand what is really happening beneath the surface, and respond more strategically. Acting more strategically yields better results, whether in productivity or job satisfaction. 

​

Informative and accessible, Conflict Competency is for today’s working professional, from leaders and managers to HR representatives and people-management leaders. This book equips readers to engage difficult conversations and complex dynamics with greater clarity, confidence, and effectiveness. Rather than promising quick fixes, it offers durable skills spanning personal, relational, and organizational contexts.