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Recently I met a very interesting lady called Jane Gunn, she calls herself  a Corporate Peacemaker and advises organisations in dealing with conflict and disputes.  We have all been there - you know when a small problem escalates and suddenly someone is threatening to sue somebody over something.  Jane can nip these situations in the bud.

Her best piece of advice is that we just don't listen enough.  As a species we are naturally adversarial - our first instinct is often to fight our ground - defend our territory.  If you have a pet dog you will know exactly what I am talking about.  It is possible to train yourself to stop and listen to colleagues ideas even when they conflict with your own opinions. To find out more about Jane - click here You can buy her new book 'How to beat bedlam in the boardroom boredom in the bedroom.' by clicking the Amazon link on the left.