Could AI be contributing to some of the tension showing up between coworkers?

In this episode, we explore two ways AI may be influencing workplace conflict.

First, uncertainty about jobs and the future of work can leave people more on edge, potentially lowering the threshold for tension and disagreement. Then there’s a less obvious issue: the growing tendency to use AI to draft responses during difficult conversations. When emotionally charged exchanges turn into a back-and-forth of polished, AI-generated messages, we may lose some of the human contact needed to actually work through the conflict.

We will discuss what leaders can do to communicate about AI when they don’t have all the answers, why transparency matters during uncertain times, and how coworkers can use AI without outsourcing the human side of difficult conversations.

AI can be an incredibly useful tool. But when emotions are involved, sometimes the better move is simply to talk to each other.

This episode draws from Jeremy’s book, Wired for Peace: Using 7 Neuroscience-Based Principles to Resolve Conflicts.

📘 Get Wired for Peace:
https://a.co/d/02XFwbCC

Dealing with conflict on your team or in your workplace? Schedule a free consultation:
https://pollackpeacebuilding.com

🎧 Listen now to learn how building conflict competency can transform tension into trust, alignment, and stronger performance.

Connect with Me
🌐 Website: PollackPeacebuilding.com
🌐 Dr. Pollack’s Courses: peacefulleadersacademy.com/courses/
📧 Email: support@pollackpeacebuilding.com
📱 LinkedIn: Jeremy Pollack
📣 Subscribe & Share:
If this episode resonated, share it with a colleague or leader. Follow Peacebuilding with Dr. Pollack for practical tools that create healthier, more effective workplaces.

Host: Dr. Jeremy Pollack from Pollack Peacebuilding Systems

More from Dr. Pollack:

• Peaceful Leaders Academy
• Conflict Resolution Playbook: Practical Communication Skills for Preventing, Managing, and Resolving Conflict
• FREE e-book: The Ultimate 12-Step Guide to Coworker Mediation: Free Ebook - Pollack Peacebuilding Systems

Connect with Dr. Pollack on social media: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | LinkedIn

Two coworkers can’t stand each other. By the time the issue lands on HR’s desk, it looks like a classic personality clash.

But what if that’s not actually how the conflict started?

A surprising amount of what gets labeled “interpersonal conflict” at work begins with something operational: unclear roles, overlapping responsibilities, undefined authority, poor processes, or expectations that were never clearly communicated. Leave those issues unresolved long enough, and people start assigning motives to each other. Frustration becomes resentment. Eventually, an operational problem becomes a relationship problem too.

In this episode, Dr. Jeremy Pollack breaks down why workplace conflict is so often misdiagnosed and what leaders should look at before assuming two people simply don’t get along.

You’ll learn how unclear roles can turn into personal conflict, why fixing the operational issue late may no longer be enough, the three questions Dr. Pollack asks when diagnosing workplace conflict, and why ambiguity and organizational chaos almost inevitably create friction.

If you work in HR, manage a team, or lead an organization, this episode offers a practical way to look beneath the conflict you’re seeing and identify what may actually be driving it.

This episode draws from Jeremy’s book, Wired for Peace: Using 7 Neuroscience-Based Principles to Resolve Conflicts.

📘 Get Wired for Peace: https://a.co/d/02XFwbCC

Dealing with conflict on your team or in your workplace? Learn how Pollack Peacebuilding Systems can help: https://pollackpeacebuilding.com

Jeremy Pollack, Ph.D., is a social-organizational psychologist and founder of Pollack Peacebuilding Systems. He helps people and organizations rewire the way they understand and handle conflict.

🎧 Listen now to learn how building conflict competency can transform tension into trust, alignment, and stronger performance.

Connect with Me
🌐 Website: PollackPeacebuilding.com
🌐 Dr. Pollack’s Courses: peacefulleadersacademy.com/courses/
📧 Email: support@pollackpeacebuilding.com
📱 LinkedIn: Jeremy Pollack
📣 Subscribe & Share:
If this episode resonated, share it with a colleague or leader. Follow Peacebuilding with Dr. Pollack for practical tools that create healthier, more effective workplaces.

Host: Dr. Jeremy Pollack from Pollack Peacebuilding Systems

More from Dr. Pollack:

• Peaceful Leaders Academy
• Conflict Resolution Playbook: Practical Communication Skills for Preventing, Managing, and Resolving Conflict
• FREE e-book: The Ultimate 12-Step Guide to Coworker Mediation: Free Ebook - Pollack Peacebuilding Systems

Connect with Dr. Pollack on social media: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | LinkedIn

We hear all the time that trust takes years to build and seconds to break. But what actually is trust?

One useful way to think about it is as a perception of safety. Not necessarily physical safety, but the sense that the people and environment around us are stable enough to predict.

That has important implications for leadership. A boss whose mood changes dramatically from one day to the next may not think they’re doing anything wrong. But employees learn quickly. If bringing a problem to you gets a thoughtful response one day and irritation the next, people may eventually decide it’s safer not to bring you problems at all.

In this episode, Dr. Jeremy Pollack explores the connection between trust, predictability, and the brain’s response to uncertainty. He breaks down how inconsistent leadership behaviors can undermine trust, why silence during uncertain times often creates more anxiety rather than less, and how giving people greater agency and choice can help restore a sense of safety.

Because leaders can’t always give people certainty. Sometimes, you don’t know what’s going to happen either, but you can control how consistently you communicate, how you respond when people come to you, and whether your team knows what they can expect from you.

If you lead a team, manage people, or work in HR, this episode offers a different way to think about how trust is built and how easily everyday leadership behaviors can erode it.

This episode draws from Jeremy’s book, Wired for Peace: Using 7 Neuroscience-Based Principles to Resolve Conflicts.

📘 Get Wired for Peace: https://a.co/d/02XFwbCC

Dealing with conflict on your team or in your workplace? Learn how Pollack Peacebuilding Systems can help: https://pollackpeacebuilding.com

Jeremy Pollack, Ph.D., is a social-organizational psychologist and founder of Pollack Peacebuilding Systems. He helps people and organizations rewire the way they understand and handle conflict.

🎧 Listen now to learn how building conflict competency can transform tension into trust, alignment, and stronger performance.
Connect with Me
🌐 Website: PollackPeacebuilding.com
🌐 Dr. Pollack’s Courses: peacefulleadersacademy.com/courses/
📧 Email: support@pollackpeacebuilding.com
📱 LinkedIn: Jeremy Pollack
📣 Subscribe & Share:
If this episode resonated, share it with a colleague or leader. Follow Peacebuilding with Dr. Pollack for practical tools that create healthier, more effective workplaces.

Host: Dr. Jeremy Pollack from Pollack Peacebuilding Systems

More from Dr. Pollack:

• Peaceful Leaders Academy
• Conflict Resolution Playbook: Practical Communication Skills for Preventing, Managing, and Resolving Conflict
• FREE e-book: The Ultimate 12-Step Guide to Coworker Mediation: Free Ebook - Pollack Peacebuilding Systems

Connect with Dr. Pollack on social media: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | LinkedIn