Author: Julia Menard M.Ed., Cert. Con. Res., PCC

Julia Menard is a Leadership, Mediation and Conflict Coach and Trainer. Her articles are always practical, with a thoughtful, spiritual angle to them. Julia loves to see the whole person, to consider the bigger picture—and to help others find peace. She writes for us on balance, managing conflict and finding peace within ourselves—and with others.

Scroll down for more about Julia, including her social media links, website—and a list of all her articles for us.

About Julia

• Lives in: Victoria, BC, Canada
• Business Name: Menard & Associates
• Type of Coach: Organizational Conflict Consultant, Mediator, Coach + Trainer
• Professional Accreditations: M.Ed. (Educational Psychology specializing in Leadership), Cert. Con. Res., PCC

Author Bio

What I’ve discovered after mediating, coaching & teaching 1000s of people in conflict for the last 25+ years, is that conflict stops at the door of the leader. It’s the leader who has the biggest influence through how they model conflict engagement.

I’m passionate about doing conflict better. That’s been my quest all these years and I love to work with leaders who see the value in strengthening conflict practices in their workplaces. For more on what motivates me to mediate, check out my TEDx talk on Mediating while the world burns.

I've mediated neighbours fighting over fences, criminal court and civil court disputes as well as organizational issues. Early on, I was drawn to workplace conflict as I find it endlessly fascinating, overlapping Human Resources, Organizational Development, Labour Relations (especially in public, unionized environments like health care, academia and government).

Mediators can be in a unique position as an intermediary, helping to assess what is really going on and to untangle the "interpersonal mush" that builds up in conflict.

What I now know for sure is that organizational conflict is usually a symptom of other things - which may call for capacity building through coaching or training, interpersonal mediation, a team intervention - or some combination.

I continue to find new ways to understand and share about conflict. I've co-authored the book Hold On To Yourself: How to Stay Cool in Hot Conversations with therapist Judy Zehr. I'm also the sole Canadian distributor and trainer for the innovative Mediator in a Box.

For the last few years, I've been co-hosting the On Conflict Podcast with fellow mediator Gordon White. Most recently, we launched an on-line, on-demand video course called: How to Have Difficult Conversations.