The White House has released a 43-page report that notes that unions represent 10.3% of the country's workforce. The report, which provides a large number of suggestions for how the government can help boost union membership, is expected to be followed by another report in six months.

Former coach Brian Flores' lawsuit against the NFL over racism allegations reflects a problem with a rule that requires teams to interview at least two persons of color for head coaching jobs, asserts Nzinga Shaw, chief inclusion and diversity officer at ZRG Partners and a former HR executive for the NFL. "In practice, it has become a policy that is not being accomplished in earnest and is oftentimes circumvented without any accountability to the dissidents," Shaw says.

HR leaders can improve employee retention by investing in soft skills training to offer personal growth opportunities, writes KnowledgeCity's Raynie Andrewsen. Among the seven soft skills highlighted in this article are critical thinking, decision-making and problem-solving.

Sixty-nine percent of employees of color and 66% of LGBTQ employees making up to $100,000 annually had at least two unmet needs, including food security, social support and safety, a McKinsey report found. The analysis also showed that employees of color were 1.5 times more likely than white staff members to say their employers' benefit resources and educational tools were not helpful.

Workplace conflict can be exacerbated when leaders aren't helping people grow, when leaders focus on process instead of results and when they write people off, notes Marlene Chism. Chism walks through three distinctions that help leaders gain understanding, so they can fix bad workplace situations.

“Dude was just an idiot, Mom. When I called him about his application, he sounded like he was high. And they’re all like that! All I’m getting is a pile of idiots for this job post.”

It was Saturday, and I was having lunch with my daughter, my son-in-law, Zach, and their friend, Jayla. Kawai was relaying to me the challenges she’s been having trying to find candidates for the job openings at her workplace. I nibbled on my buffalo cauliflower wings while she vented. Finally, I broke in.

“My Lalas, they’re ‘all’ like that? All of the applicants?”

She looked confused for a second, her rant rhythm broken. I continued. “All of the applicants are idiots? There was no one good or even phone-screen worthy?”

She relented. Yes, there were 2-3 who had decent resumes, she told me, and she had been in contact. She admitted she was just frustrated overall by the process and its impact on their workflow. “I’m just stressed. We need to hire. We’ve got all this work and Zach and I can’t keep staying late to get it done. I’m in school and I just want this done.”

And there it was. Pressure and emotion, crashing into each other and causing her volcanic outburst.

I thought of my conversation with Kawai when I read Marlene Chism’s story today about conflict. She makes a point about relying on emotional brain versus executive brain. Kawai was reacting from emotional brain instead of responding from her executive brain. When she’s using executive brain, she’s composed and thoughtful. When she’s in emotional mode, she’s hair trigger, her judgment is clouded, and she can make sweeping generalizations about people and circumstances (her mother can be this way also).

We kept talking and the emotion waned. We walked through some ideas she could try for her hires. She nodded thoughtfully and tweaked them to suit her company’s resources. By the time we left, executive brain had won.

How do you keep yourself in executive brain mode? What do you do to make sure emotional brain doesn’t derail your judgment? Let me know! And if you enjoy this brief, tell others so they can benefit also.