You Don’t Have to Be Friends to Work Well Together
It may seem counterintuitive to think we can spend 40 hours a week with people and not become friends. However, not everyone approaches work relationships the same way. Some people are perfectly fine keeping things professional, while others thrive on forming personal connections with their colleagues. The truth is, you don’t have to be friends […]
Disagreeing at Work? Here’s How to Keep It Professional
It’s not unusual to work alongside people who have fundamentally different values and perspectives. Not surprisingly, these differences can lead to conflict, especially in personal conversations at work. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) helps us manage these conflicts and maintain respectful, healthy working relationships. One key area of EQ is Relationship Management—the ability to handle conflict, communicate […]
What Happens When Your Workplace (or Person) Isn’t Who You Thought They Were?
There’s been a lot of discussion about company values with the recent Executive Orders to eliminate DEI programming. Some companies, like Costco and e.l.f. Beauty, are doubling down on their commitments, and others are ending their programming. This raises a bigger question: As individuals, what do we do when a company’s values or commitments change? […]
Grieving at Work: Practical Ways Managers Can Help
For many, the holidays are an emotionally challenging time. Alongside joyful celebrations, there are often experiences of loss and memories of loved ones who are no longer with us. We may have the support we need in our personal lives, but how do we manage the complexity of grief when we’re at work? I had […]
Stay As Long As You Can Be Kind: EQ Skills to Navigate the Holidays

The workplace and family structures aren’t so different. Both have rules—often unspoken—that we must follow to feel included, connected, and valued. Because we have a deep human need for belonging, it’s easy to find ourselves engaging in behaviors that don’t always serve us, from laughing off inappropriate jokes to staying quiet when someone is being […]