Author: Melissa Segal

Just before a conflict resolution session, one participant approached me and said, “After this conversation, I want your honest assessment. If you think we can fix it, great, but if this is unresolvable, I’ll move on.” I paused, sitting with

Last week was a painful one. A simple, ordinary movement, the kind we make a hundred times a day, led to excruciating back pain that rivaled childbirth and sent me first to urgent care and then to the emergency room

“How do we eliminate all this ambiguity?” A participant asked that question in a recent workshop on navigating uncertainty, and the room went quiet. Honestly, I felt it, too. We’re in a season of intense change, and it’s not ending

I rushed to the airport after a full workday. Then, my flight was delayed. Once we finally boarded, we sat and waited for clearance to join the line for takeoff. And when we finally landed, we sat on the tarmac,

A few weeks ago, my dad had a stroke. I awoke to 16 texts, and in an instant, everything else faded into the background. Thankfully, my dad has since made a full recovery. And still, the experience was frightening and

“I’m still under construction.” That’s what Eric Dane said in his poignant final interview. Since watching the interview, I’ve thought deeply about that concept and about his thoughts on continuous improvement. Most of us recognize that humans aren’t perfect, and

“You validated me every time I pushed back.” That’s not the feedback most people expect after a difficult conversation. Yet that’s exactly what my role-play partner shared during a workshop I facilitated on navigating tough conversations. In the exercise, I

“What do you do?” It’s a simple question. And yet, for most of my professional career, it’s one I’ve answered indirectly. My typical response was, “I’m a social worker by training. Right now I am…” followed by whatever position I

It was one of those record scratch moments. I was in the middle of a dental cleaning when the hygienist asked if I’d watched the Super Bowl half-time show. And as she described the performance, I suddenly realized we hadn’t

Was that a genuine question or a challenge? That’s what I asked myself more than once during a recent training I facilitated. One participant asked a lengthy and layered question about whether the material would apply to anyone in her

Last week I became a Nana. As I held my new grandson and watched him sleeping peacefully, I found myself wondering who he will become. While he enters the world with his own personality, he also arrives surrounded by countless

How often do we let a first impression determine what we think about someone? As I walked into the hotel fitness center, I heard someone talking. I turned the corner and noticed a woman on the stationary bike in a

When was the last time you fully explored your core values—and how they actually show up in your life? I spend a lot of time helping organizations clarify their values (and missions/visions!). And yet, I recently realized that I hadn’t

A client recently shared that a colleague’s comments at work often make people uncomfortable. Most team members feel the same way and talk about it with each other. I asked whether anyone has addressed it directly with the colleague. My

I’m not very good at asking for or accepting help. This past week, I didn’t really have a choice. My mother-in-law passed away after a long illness. In the midst of the emotional processing, the logistics alone felt overwhelming. We

After a routine medical test, I was called back for additional testing because the results were unclear. When the doctor came into the room, he sat down, introduced himself, and said simply, “Here’s the bottom line. Then we’ll talk through

I usually spend the week of New Year’s enjoying quality time with friends and family, while also tending to my lingering to-dos. This year, one item on that list was finally integrating the pictures that once lined my office walls

This past weekend, I attended a community retreat on the North Carolina shore. While we came together around a common thread, the group held real diversity. We spanned generations, family constellations, interests, worldviews, professional paths, and life experiences. What stood

As the year winds down, I’ve been doing what many of us do: thinking about what I want my work in 2026 to look like. In the midst of that reflection, I was asked by a colleague whether my weekly

This past week felt off. It was a fairly typical week, full of the usual lists of work and life commitments. But something felt different, and what should have been small pebbles weighed on me like heavy rocks. I felt