Best Conflict Solutions, LLC

29/07/2026

Forgiveness means something different to everyone.
My favorite definition comes from Oprah Winfrey, who described forgiveness as letting go of the hope that the past could be different. It does not ask you to forget. It just asks you to stop wishing for a different ending to a story that already happened.
I have heard so many other views over the years too. Forgiveness as a gift to yourself. Forgiveness as an ongoing choice rather than one moment. Forgiveness without reconciliation. Forgiveness as a spiritual practice.
It rarely looks the same for any two people.
How do you view or define forgiveness? Tell me below. 👇

27/07/2026

25/07/2026

New blog: EVIN™: A Conflict Model — explore the four layers beneath every argument: Emotions, Values, Interests, Needs. Learn how to move past “who’s right” to what really matters in conflict resolution. Read more: https://wix.to/weCySLs

People in conflict tend to argue about what happened or didn’t happen. Who said what, who did what, who started it, who was right and who was wrong. That is almost never what the conflict is about. Underneath the argument, four things are running at once. Emotions that are hard to see and harder t...

24/07/2026

Mediation is not one size fits all. Here's my approach:

22/07/2026

“Your life is a story, and it’s yours to write, all the way through to the end.”

That’s the idea at the heart of How to Live Forever.

How to Live Forever isn’t about preparing to die, it’s about learning to live fully, right up to the end. It offers tools and prompts for the conversations that matter most: legal decisions, health care plans, relationships, and how you want to be remembered.

If we can recognize the finite nature of our days, we can live with more purpose and finish well.

📖 How to Live Forever: A Guide to Writing the Final Chapter of Your Life Story is available now.

How to Live Forever: A Guide to Writing the Final Chapter of Your Life Story

20/07/2026

Is your workplace culture what’s written on the wall—or what actually happens when things get hard? In “That’s Just How It Is,” Kimberly Best explores how systems, not slogans, shape everyday behavior and why leaving culture to chance lets old patterns outlive the people who formed them. Read the full post and learn how to start changing the system from the inside: https://wix.to/RHeyrUV

Your culture is not the values on the wall. Your culture is what your system has actually learned about how to interact, especially in difficulty, accumulated over years, and it is running whether anyone is paying attention to it or not. And left to chance, it often outlives the people who formed it...

20/07/2026

Why is it important to have a direct conversation when you're in conflict with someone?

17/07/2026

A mediator's role is not a judge and does not cast judgment. A mediator does not decide who is right or wrong.

A mediator's role is to create space where people who disagree can actually hear each other and find a way forward.

A mediator's role is to stay neutral, ask the right questions, and slows things down enough for real understanding.

14/07/2026

It was surreal and humbling to go back to Lipscomb University's Institute for Conflict Management as a professor this weekend, teaching the graduate course in Conflict in Healthcare Settings. Twelve years ago, I was a student there, finishing my master's degree in conflict management. I never dreamed I'd have an opportunity to teach. Life truly is full of surprises.

What a great group of learners, representing leaders in healthcare, law, pharmaceuticals, mediation and public service. Thank you Jeff Stuart for sharing your expertise in the work you do supporting doctors and healthcare organizations.

Thank you Rosemary McPherson for supporting us with pretty much anything we needed. A special thanks to Gregory Firestone and Haavi Morreim, JD, PhD, both former teachers of mine, who were great resources. Your publications added richness in areas we discussed. Thank you to Zena Zumeta who answers so many questions and helps me fill in the blanks I'm missing. Your wisdom and generosity are more than a gift.

Best Conflict Solutions, LLC

10/07/2026

Managers are quiet cracking too.

Manager engagement dropped from 31% to 22% in just three years, faster than their teams’. And 70% of a team’s engagement comes down to the manager, yet only 44% have ever had formal training.

That’s not a character flaw. That’s a skills gap.

If you lead people and you’re feeling the crack, you’re not failing, you just weren’t given the tools yet. We can provide those tools. Please visit our website, listed in the comments, for more information.