You Can Become A Conflict-Intelligent Person – Exclusive Interview With Yvette Durazo
Yvette Durazo, MA, PCC is the author of the book Conflict Intelligence (Conflict-IQ™) The Missing Piece to Turbocharge Leaders’ and Organizations’ Emotional Intelligence, and is the founder of Unitive Consulting, a workplace organizational effectiveness, strategic conflict management, and leadership development firm. Yvette brings innovative techniques to promote a positive workplace culture in organizations to encourage trust, productive human capital engagement, and inclusion. Clients benefit from her wealth of knowledge and professional experience in the art of building a trusting workplace relationship.
Yvette Durazo, Unitive Consulting
What do you do?
Yvette is a specialist workplace conflict management consultant, and organizations hire her as an external Chief Civility Officer (CCO) or Ombuds. Yvette is the expert companies need to help maintain a harmonious workplace by solving issues among employees so that they focus on the goals of the organization and increase performance.
What are the services and training that you offer?
Some of her services included training, mediating conflicts in the workplace, anti-bullying prevention, settlement negotiations, developing dispute system design, leading people through change, and bringing unique strategies to address the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) workplace.
What is your background? Personal story?
Yvette was born in San Diego County and raised between the USA and Mexico border; she calls herself “a border child”. As the youngest of 7 children, Yvette has been a negotiator from the cradle. And as a first-generation Latina university graduate and single mother attaining an advanced degree, Yvette also knows what it takes to overcome a challenge. She’s proof that it’s possible to achieve anything with great determination and loves sharing this concept with her clients.
Yvette can empathize with the issues of cultural diversity because she’s experienced them firsthand. Raised in two cultures, Yvette speaks English and Spanish with equal ease and can conduct training sessions in both languages. Yvette has an intimate understanding of Latino culture and knows how different cultures can bring their assumptions into the workplace.
Who inspires you?
Although her father was an orphan at a very young age, with no formal education, he raised Yvette to be an intellectual. A great man of faith who became a successful businessman, Yvette’s father demonstrated that he cared more about his employees than profit. Growing up in the family business young Yvette aspired to have her own business one day and to be a great leader like her father. His leadership inspired Yvette to help organizations build good leaders and how to recognize them.
What are you passionate about?
Yvette is passionate about optimizing professionals and teams to engage in constructive problem-solving communication toward instilling respect, civility, and collaboration. She believes that human conflict is one of the most important things organizations must learn to work with and harness to overcome any derailing of employees’ performance and engagement. Her methodologies are like a vitamin shot to the immunity of organizations. Yvette’s passion is to work with leaders to develop more conflict intelligent employees who can lead their companies, communities, and families.
Name some roadblocks you overcame.
Yvette has not had an easy life, she become a mother at a very young age, her father passed away right after, and she had no family support. Although her circumstances, she enrolled herself in school and continue her education until she achieved a master’s degree although along her path, she discovered she had Dyslexia. Nothing stopped Yvette and now she is an author. Having dealt with debilitating anxiety and invisible health issues for over 15 years, she continued her journey of success. Yvette has found natural ways to deal with her affliction and uses her acquired skills and healthy lifestyle management to cope and thrive despite her anxiety.
What I am currently doing.
Presently, Yvette is the Advisory Committee Co-Chair and an instructor for the Human Resource Management Certification program at the University of California, Santa Clara Extension, in Silicon Valley. She also is an instructor for the University of California Davis for the Conflict Resolution Program. She also teaches for Portland State University Conflict Resolution and Mediation program, courses for undergraduate and master’s degree students. She holds a PCC coaching credential from the International Coach Federation, a master’s degree in Conflict Resolution, Negotiation, and Peace-building from California State University Dominguez Hills, and an undergraduate degree in International Business from San Diego State University. She is a former Core Adjunct Professor at National University, where she taught courses in Alternative Dispute Resolution, Mediation, and Communication for over six years. A former Instructor for the Leon Guanajuato Mexico Institution Power of Justice. She has authored many publications on these subjects.
Yvette’s key message is not to be afraid of conflict and difficult conversations but to lean in and embrace it. You can become a conflict intelligent leader!
